According to some revealed administrative documents Ethiopia plans to recruit as many as half a million women between the ages of 18-40, to send to Saudi Arabia to work as domestic workers.
Human rights activists have criticised Ethiopia’s continuing recruitment of women for domestic work in Saudi Arabia.
Since the ‘80s, Ethiopians have been flocking to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kuwait in search of blue-collar jobs, mostly arranged by local Ethiopian recruitment agencies or human traffickers.
This time, the Ethiopian government is overseeing the entire process, including recruitment and advertising.
In early March, notices first began appearing on Facebook and on billboards in Ethiopian towns and cities, urging women to register for employment in Saudi Arabia, at government offices.
