Some of the Ghanaian women deported from Saudi Arabia for illegal stay have alleged they were maltreated by their hosts, according to a statement from the Ghana Immigration Service.
In the statement announcing their arrival, the Immigration service said Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) have been involved in the matter.
“Some of the ladies claimed in an interview that they were made to overwork, had the salaries withheld, and were not properly fed and maltreated by their host. They have since been handed over to the Bureau of National Investigations for further action.
The women’s ages ranged from 20 to 30 years and most of them are said to be graduates of Junior High School and Senior High School.
The worked as domestic help, storekeepers and fuel attendants.
Saudi Arabia is noted as one of the world’s biggest importers of domestic workers.
But this has been accompanied by reports of some of these workers suffering different forms of abuse.
Domestic workers enter Saudi Arabia under a sponsorship system which prohibits them from changing jobs or leaving the country without their sponsor’s approval.
Back in 2017, about 800 Ghanaian migrants living in Saudi Arabia illegally turned themselves in at Ghana’s mission there to be deported during a three-month amnesty granted illegal residents.