Faith Shimila Murunga claims her boss molested, beat and raped her.
Mary Wanjiru Nyambura claims she was thrown from a balcony.
Winfrieda Kwamboka never returned home.
East African leaders and members of the Saudi royal family are among those profiting from the lucrative but deadly trade in domestic workers.
Latif Dahir and Justin Shek
On any given day in Kenya, dozens, if not hundreds, of women mill around the departures area of Nairobi International Airport, huddling for selfies in matching T-shirts, discussing how they will spend the money from their new jobs in Saudi Arabia.
Lured by company recruiters and backed by the Kenyan government, the women have reason to be optimistic. Spend two years in Saudi Arabia as a housekeeper or nanny, the advert says, and you can earn enough to build a house, educate your children and save for the future.
While the departure terminal hums with anticipation, the arrivals area is where hope meets grim reality. The women return with sunken cheeks, often exhausted by unpaid wages, beatings, starvation and sexual abuse. Some are broke. Others are in coffins.
At least 274 Kenyan workers, mostly women, have died in Saudi Arabia over the past five years — an extraordinary number for a young workforce doing a job considered extremely safe in most countries. At least 55 Kenyan workers died last year, double the number the previous year.
Autopsy reports are vague and contradictory. They describe women with signs of trauma, including burns and electric shock, all listed as natural deaths. One woman’s cause of death was simply “brain death.” Countless Ugandans have also died, but their government has released no figures.
There are people who should be protecting these women – government officials like Fabian Kuhle Muli, deputy chair of the labour committee in Kenya’s National Assembly. A powerful committee could demand a thorough investigation into the workers’ deaths, pressure the government to negotiate better protections from Saudi Arabia, or pass laws restricting migration until reforms are made.
