Muslims seek Govt help to secure release of ‘detainees’

The ladies, whose passports are being held by their employers, are being detained at the Saudi immigration. According to information received from Kenyans living in Saudi Arabia, the ladies’ problems started when they decided to come back home on finding that they did not get the jobs they had been promised by their agents.

The six are Asha Abdi Dagane, Jane Ndungu Kiinya, Fatuma Wanjiru Majid, Pauline Wanjiru Gichuri, Hafswa Mwatime Said and Nur Said Mohamed Katuku. Five are being held in the capital Riyadh. Nur is the only one being held at Dammam.

Programme Co-ordinator of Muhuri, Hussein Khalid, criticised the Kenyan Embassy in Saudi Arabia for claiming that it was not aware of the detentions. However, former chairman of the Answar Muslim Youth, Zubeir Noor, came to the defence of the embassy, saying that if the ladies did something wrong in Saudi Arabia the law must take its course.

Nevertheless, he said some employment agents in Kenya were to blame for cheating Kenyans about lucrative jobs in the Gulf States, which turn out to be akin to slavery.

Zubeir also criticised the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) for criticising the embassy without checking the facts on the ground.

Source: Standard, May 21, 2006