Employer Steals OFW’s Passport and Sells Her to Another Employer in Saudi Arabia

A lot of our Overseas Filipino Workers, particularly those who are working as domestic helpers or household helpers, were abused by their employers. Instead of guiding and shielding them from danger and harm, were the ones who hurt them in the first place. Some of our OFWs were physically, mentally, and psychologically abused. And worse, some of them were raped as well.

Just recently, one of them was killed and was hidden in a freezer for almost a year. Luckily, with the fast movement of the government, the employment ban in Kuwait has been finalized. More and more OFWs were sent back to their families in the Philippines. However, there are still some OFWs from other parts of the Middle East is still crying for help, and one of those is Jessica Cruz Palamos.

Threatened By Her Employer

Jessica Cruz Palamos (Khai Somalap in Facebook) is currently working as a domestic helper or housemaid in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She is married and came from Cabuyao, Laguna.

The said domestic helper sent a message to his uncle to ask help from the Philippine Embassy. According to her, her current employer from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is threatening her that she will be surrendered to the police because of theft. As much as she wants to go to the police, she is afraid that doing so might backfire and danger her life.

Steals Her Passport

One of the reasons why Palamos cannot run away from her current employers, other than the threat, is that her employers currently hold her passport. In the message that she sent to her uncle, the Philippine Government will have her employers pay a fine of 10,000 rials if the embassy knows that they are holding her documents.

However, her employers lock her in their home, the reason why she cannot report it to the embassy. She is also being sold to another employer.

The situation of the domestic helper now needs help. Hopefully, the government will be notified of her poor situation in Saudi Arabia so she can return to her family in the Philippines.