Abused OFW in Jeddah seen vomiting blood in cellphone video



An OFW in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is experiencing abuse from her employer, and her relatives in the Philippines are asking the government to help bring her home alive, GMA News' JP Soriano reported on 24 Oras on Wednesday.
Chona said her 24-year-old cousin called them last week to ask for help, saying the abuse she is suffering from her female Saudi employer has gone worse. Chona said she could no longer contact her cousin, prompting her to seek government help.
She said her cousin, who started working in Saudi Arabia in January last year, has lost so much weight that she is almost unrecognizable. A cellphone video taken by a fellow househelp also showed the OFW vomiting blood.
"Sinasaktan siya, konting pagkaka[mali]. 'Yung nakaraan nga daw tinulak, kasi fourth floor daw 'yung bahay, tinulak sa hagdanan. Buti nakahawak, kundi patay na ang pinsan ko," Chona said.
The OFW's employer was forced to bring her to the hospital due to the extent of her injuries, but immediately brought her back to their house instead of allowing her to go back to the Philippines, the report said.
Chona fears that her cousin might come home dead as she accused the recruitment agency of inaction. "Kumita na kasi sila eh," she said.
The OFW's recruitment agency, which is based in the Philippines, has yet to issue a statement.
The matter has already been brought to the attention of the Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration, the report said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), meanwhile, has ordered a review on the various cases of abuse of OFWs in the Middle East, including those deployed in Kuwait, where the Philippines has suspended the deployment of newly hired OFWs following reports of abuse and suspicious deaths. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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