The embassy said that at least 24 Nepali women are currently languishing in Saudi Arabia after escaping economic, sexual and psychological exploitation from their employers. Many of these women lack passport and money to buy an air ticket. “Thirteen women are currently awaiting repatriation in the Housemaid Department and 11 others are taking shelter at the embassy’s safe house,” The embassy said that an increasing number of Nepali housemaids are being smuggled into Saudi Arabia through informal channel. An estimated 40,000 Nepali women are currently working in Saudi Arabia as housemaids. More than 90 percent of them are believed to have reached the country through informal channel. The Nepali embassy in Riyadh has urged the concerned authorities to control smuggling of Nepali housemaids into the Gulf kingdom following what it calls “marked rise in the number of women” falling to various forms of exploitation at the hands of their employers.
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