When foreign domestic workers fall out with their employers in Arab countries, it's not uncommon for the employers to falsely accuse them of crimes. It's not uncommon, either, for police to believe the employers rather than the foreign workers.

Writing about the problems of housemaids in Lebanon last month, I quoted the Ethiopian Suicides blog, which said:

"When a maid runs away from her employer's house, the police station is unable to act because there's no law criminalising runaway maids. So the police station officer tells the Lebanese employer to say that she stole money."

Thankfully, though, there are some in the police who are prepared to give domestic workers a fair hearing. Last Friday, the Saudi newspaper, Arab News, reported a case in Jeddah:

"Police want to find out why a Saudi man withdrew a complaint against a housemaid he earlier accused of stealing SR36,000 [$9,600] from his house in al-Shati district.

"The man withdrew the charges after the maid told police during questioning that he abused her and did not pay her wages for a long period. 

"The maid also claimed that her employer ... used to threaten to hand her over to police whenever she asked for her salary."

There's now a further development, and it appears that the employer is going to be prosecuted.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 11 April 2010.