From Khelil: "Slaves in Qatar:
"LAST year, Theresa M. Dantes signed a contract with an
employment agency in the Philippines to come here to work as a housemaid for
$400 a month, plus room and board. But when she arrived, her employer said he
would pay her only $250. She acquiesced; her family back in Quezon City depended
on her earnings. Other surprises quickly followed. Ms. Dantes, 29, said
she was fed one meal a day, leftovers from the family’s lunch: “If no leftovers,
I didn’t eat.” She worked seven days a week. When she finished work in her
employer’s house, she was forced to clean his mother-in-law’s house, and then
his sister’s. After eight months, Ms. Dantes tried to leave. Her boss
laughed. “You can’t quit,” he told her." And the Qataris love their slave system: "The
typical household is served by a staff of three. Some 95 percent of Qatari
families employ a housemaid; more than half have two or more. A recent survey by
the research institute found that nearly 9 in 10 Qataris did not want to see the
kafala system weakened; if anything, 30 percent said they wanted to see
employers’ prerogatives strengthened."
