At least 41 Sri Lankan women migrant workers have been detained in Saudi Arabia for as long as 18 months, Amnesty International said in a statement, demanding their immediate release.

“Three women have young children with them, and one woman is known to be in urgent need of medical care,” the statement said.

The majority of the women are migrant domestic workers, who have spent months on end ‘arbitrarily detained’ at a deportation center in Saudi Arabia, awaiting repatriation to their home country, the human rights watch body said in a post on its website.

The women have been held at a Deportation Detention (Tarheel) Centre in Riyadh for periods ranging from eight to 18 months.

“Their plight is a stark illustration of how domestic workers remain caught up in the inherently abusive kafala (sponsorship) system. In March 2021 Saudi Arabia brought in significant reforms to its kafala system, however these reforms excluded migrant domestic workers who make up 30% of the country’s 10 million migrant workers.

“Detaining migrant workers for prolonged periods of up to 18 months when they have done nothing wrong and are victims themselves is cruel and inhumane. These women left their homes and families behind to earn a livelihood in Saudi Arabia only to find themselves locked into an abusive sponsorship system that facilitates exploitation and abuse,” the statement said.

“ Now they are indefinitely detained with no opportunity to challenge their detention and no indication of when they can be reunited with their loved ones,” said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

Maalouf said the ordeal of the women migrant workers illustrates the urgent need for Saudi Arabia to extend labour law protections and reforms to its kafala system to migrant domestic workers.

“The Saudi Arabian authorities should immediately release all women detained solely for their migration status and work with the Sri Lankan authorities to facilitate their return home.”

 (SAM)