Judge Orders Deportation of Saudi Princess

(Maybe the Worm Has Turned...)

Judge Orders Deportation of Saudi Princess for Mistreating Domestic Workers
Friday, December 22, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238220,00.html
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BOSTON — A Saudi Arabian princess accused of breaking U.S. immigration laws by locking up her domestics' passports and forcing them to work for low pay was ordered to be deported, prosecutors said Thursday.

Hana F. Al Jader of Winchester was sentenced to two years of probation, the first six months of which must be served in home confinement, after which she'll be deported to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors said.

An after hours call to Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, was not returned. It was unclear if the six months' home confinement Al Jader received included time she has already served while on bail in home confinement.

U.S. District Judge Reginald J. Lindsay also sentenced Al Jader, 40, to pay $206,000 in restitution to three of her former domestic servants, pay a $40,000 fine, and perform 100 hours of community service.

In September, Al Jader pleaded guilty to two counts of visa fraud for lying on immigration forms, and two counts of harboring an alien for keeping the two women at her house though she knew their visas had expired.

In a deal with prosecutors, six counts of forced labor were dropped in exchange for guilty pleas on the other charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Al Jader forced two domestic servants from Indonesia to work long hours, while holding their passports in a safe.

Al Jader submitted fraudulent forms to the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia guaranteeing the women would work eight hours daily for $1,500 a month, they charged.

The women were actually paid just $300 per month after arriving in February 2003 to cook, clean and care for Al Jader's disabled husband and their children.

A phone message left after hours Thursday to Al Jader's attorney, Joseph Balliro Sr., was not returned.

Al Jader and her husband, Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Al Saud, have lived in Winchester and Arlington, Va., since the mid-1990s, when the couple came to the United States to obtain medical and rehabilitation treatment for injuries the prince suffered in an auto accident.

Lindsay also sentenced Al Jader to forfeit her second residence in Arlington, Va.

 

While you may think this is an isolated incident here, it is a real problem back in the land of Mecca. Here are a few stories w/link ("runaway maids" was the search phrase) which discuss the #3 problem in the country.

http://www.arabnews.com/search/search.asp

Friday, 22, December, 2006 (02, Dhul Hijjah, 1427)

Features
Wednesday, 8, November, 2006
Caught Between Love and Tradition
Abdul Hannan Faisal Tago, Arab News

Kingdom
Friday, 3, November, 2006
Couple Run Lucrative Maid Syndicate
Zainy Abbas, Arab News

World
Friday, 20, October, 2006
Sri Lankan Mission Set to Open 24-Hour Help Desk
Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News

Local Press
Saturday, 2, September, 2006
Runaway Maids
Tareq Al-Abody • Al-Riyadh

Opinion
Friday, 28, July, 2006
Filipino Women Among Worst Hit in Israeli-Hezbollah War
Rasheed Abou-Alsamh, Arab News

Kingdom
Monday, 17, July, 2006
Couple Held in Riyadh Over Murder of Nepalese Maid
M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News

Kingdom
Saturday, 8, July, 2006
Govt Doing Little to Protect Us From Abusive Maids, Employers Say
Arab News

Opinion
Tuesday, 16, May, 2006
Editorial: Arroyo’s Success
16 May 2006

Local Press
Thursday, 11, May, 2006
Runaway Maids: A Problem With No Solution
Muhammad Al-Hassani, Okaz

Kingdom
Thursday, 16, March, 2006
‘Sponsors Not to Blame for Maids’ Plight’
Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News

 

Over here we had a big problem with this sort of behaviour and actualy had shelters established for the protection of these workers, most of whom seemded to be Philapinos, there have been stories of rape, beatings basicly treating them as slaves and not people.

De Orc