Living in Sri Lanka not only allows me to learn about human rights issues taking place here, it also opens my eyes to the abuse faced by many Sri Lankan guest workers abroad. There has been a lot of news recently about a young women on death row in Saudi Arabia because of accusations of her killing a child under her care. Rizana Nafeek was only 17 when she went to Saudi Arabia, faking her documents to allow her to work abroad. The story of the child's death has become controversial in that it has uncovered unjust processes which allow Saudi authorities to arrest, detain, and pass judgement on guest workers.
It also has brought to light many other cases of abuse faced by workers from other countries such as Indonesia. "Nour Miyati, an Indonesian domestic worker, sustained serious injuries and lost her fingers due to gangrene in 2005 after her employer locked her up, physically and verbally abused her and deprived her of food. She then faced a countercharge of making false accusations against her employer, and was sentenced to 79 lashes". http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/17/saudia16699.htm
