Open Writing

There are more than one million Filipinos in Saudi Arabia with a common goal: to earn enough money to make a better life for themselves and their families. Sadly this comes at a high price. This ‘price’ includes the breakdown of marriages due to prolonged separations, the emotional detachment of children who never get to know their mothers or fathers, the inability to practise their religion freely with others (90 percent of Filipinos are Catholic), and even ‘coerced’ conversion to Islam.

However, most Filipinos are grateful for the opportunity to work in the kingdom, and know that financially, at least, life is a lot easier in Saudi Arabia than in the Philippines. Here, most can earn three or four times the salaries they would back home.

Eliza carries a creased photograph of her baby son in her purse. It is all the 28-year-old teachers’ assistant has left since kissing her baby goodbye last January. Her son remains with his grandparents in the Philippines, awaiting the paperwork from Eliza’s husband’s employer that will allow him to join his parents in Saudi Arabia.

Eliza is more qualified than most of the Western teachers she assists, with a four-year education degree and two Masters’ degrees. However, she goes about her work happily, her infectious laugh resounding throughout the classrooms. “My dream is to save enough money to one day open my own school in the Philippines,” she said.

She manages to hide her enduring sadness at missing out on the natural mother-son bonding process while separated from her son. “My husband can’t put pressure on his employer to sign the papers because of his job.”

Eliza lives in a seven-bedroom villa with five bachelors and a married couple. Her husband is also in Riyadh but lives in separate employee housing with his co-workers.
Eliza said her general treatment by Saudis has been “sort of respectful”. She enjoys walking in her spare time, even though she is occasionally hassled by Saudi youths. In her happy, carefree manner she shrugs her shoulders and smiles. “I don’t care - I just enjoy walking.”

Joseph, 44, is a quality control officer with a large firm. He is a father of three who spent 10 years alone in the kingdom before his family joined him last year. Joseph wants to spend more time with his children but 10-hour working days with a 70 kilometre drive each way doesn’t allow much time for this.

On the weekend the family shops for food and clothing in the ethnic Batha area, popular with expats, as well as Panda, Al Jazeera, Sana, and Geant. “We shop there because the prices are affordable,” said Joseph. He said his basic monthly salary is “just enough” to cover expenses, although company benefits are “lacking”.

As a matter of economics, his family shares a four-bedroom flat with other Filipino families. Joseph said he will remain in Saudi Arabia “As long as I can work effectively”.

Like 90 percent of Filipinos, Joseph is a staunch Roman Catholic. “It is difficult having a religion other than Islam in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “I wish I was free to exercise my religion here.”

Maribelle is a 31-year-old school cleaner with two ‘husbands’ – one here and one in the Philippines. Maribelle arrived in the kingdom in 2000 and spent a year as a domestic helper with a Saudi family who treated her well. However, the pay was lower than she was originally promised, at SR600 a month (approximately $200 Australian), so she finished her contract and took a position with another Saudi family for SR800.

The new employer treated Maribelle cruelly and regularly locked her inside the house with his three children. “If there was a fire, we would all have died,” she said. When she wasn’t cooking, the fridge was kept permanently padlocked and she was given a small box of noodles and some Arabic bread to eat. She went to her mattress on the floor hungry every night, her stomach aching.

The abuse did not just come from her employers. Maribelle endured ill-treatment at the hands of the children as well. “They always screamed at me,” said Maribelle. “They chased me with a knife and threw their slippers at me,” she said, pulling up her jeans to reveal permanent scars on her legs. “Their mother said ‘Even if they kill you, you have no right to complain – you are just a maid, so what could I do?”

Maribelle took a document from her purse. “They wanted me to convert to Islam. So I did.” She showed her carefully creased evidence. “I thought they would be better to me….but no,” she said. “They forced me to do Salah (prayer).”

Maribelle’s chance for freedom came a year later when her employer told her to bring some items to the hospital. “I walked into the hospital, and straight out again.” A Filipino couple whom she met on the street took her home. “They said they could take me to the embassy, or I could live here with a man,” said Maribelle. “You can’t live as a woman alone here.”

She chose the latter - a friend of the couple also with a family in the Philippines - in order to continue supporting her family. “I had no choice. There is no work for someone in the Philippines with no qualification.” She now lives in a tiny SR3000 (approximately $1000 AUD) a year apartment with her ‘husband’ and on the weekends goes shopping with friends at Batha. “It is cheaper, there’s a lot of Filipinos and it feels like home,” she said. However, she is often assaulted by men while shopping. “Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani men are the worst. The other day I hit a man who touched my breasts while walking,” said Maribelle.

Sometimes she goes ‘window shopping’ at the malls with a friend. “Things are very expensive, and I am scared of the Muttawa (religious police),” she said. “Because I am not legal, my heart is like a drum. If they catch me they will put me in jail like a prostitute.” Maribelle’s voice was almost a whisper. “But I’m not a prostitute. I have grown to love this husband more than my first husband.”

Randy, 34, completed a Bachelor of Commerce and joined his father’s manufacturing company in Riyadh two years ago. His father has lived in the kingdom for over twenty years while building his business. Randy is considered affluent in comparison to many of his compatriots; he is married with two children, and his family has their own apartment. He has the freedom to visit his homeland any time he wants to and has never experienced any problems, or ill-treatment, at the hands of Saudis.

“I don’t actually have much interaction with Saudis,” said Randy. “My sponsor is a prince so he is the only Saudi I have much to do with. Our employees are Filipino, so there is simply no need.”

Randy said he shops for clothing and other items for himself and his family at upscale malls like Faisaliah, and doesn’t rely on the post office or cargo shipping to send items home. “If I need to send mail to the Philippines, I use FedEx,” he said.

Caroline is a 33-year-old domestic worker who has been in Saudi Arabia for two years. She feels safe working in this country after experiencing multiple incidents of abuse while working in Malaysia, including beatings, starvation, and rape.

Caroline supports her four children in the Philippines by working as a housemaid in various housing compounds. She lives with other Filipino maids in a secure house and is allowed one hour a week to complete her grocery shopping. Despite this, Caroline is grateful to be here and said she has been treated “fine” during her contact with Saudis, including as a former hospital worker.

Compared to her experiences in Malaysia, working in Saudi Arabia is “good” for Caroline, who had her hair cut off by her female employer, had to brush the teeth of the four house dogs each day, had to kneel and beg to eat leftover food, and was forced to do sit ups as punishment. “I just wanted to go home,” said Caroline.

When she was eventually returned to the Malaysian maid agency she was placed in a ‘safe house’ attached to the Philippine Embassy to await her return. “I told a Filipino missionary priest of my sufferings.” Caroline looked at the floor before continuing. “I trusted him and he raped me,” she said softly. “Imagine being raped by the priest. All the time he is insisting it is ordinary for him as a man.”

Caroline, who has never told anyone of her experiences until now, is now estranged from her husband, whom she partly blames. “If he’d tried to get a job, I would never have been in Malaysia, and this wouldn’t have happened to me.”

Caroline and her fellow Filipino compatriots choose to come to Saudi Arabia to get ahead in their lives, while doing the best they can for their loved ones in the Philippines. Often this means risking the very thing they are in Saudi Arabia to sustain: their families.