Maid who claimed abuse to return home

ABU DHABI // A housemaid who fled her employers after claiming they abused her, will soon be on her way home.

The 35-year-old Filipina claimed her employers, who are Lebanese, had mistreated her. She had considered contesting the lifetime ban on working in the UAE that was issued as a penalty for absconding, but decided to return to her home country after meeting with Filipino labour officials and the managing director of Destiny HR in Dubai, the recruitment firm that brought her here.

"I got an offer for me to work here in the UAE," she said. "But now I want to return home and get a job in another country, but not as a domestic helper."

The woman, who did not want to be named, asked the recruitment agency to help her flee her employers' home on December 18. She claimed that the couple had hit her when she asked for her November salary and a day off, and provided photographs of her injuries as evidence.

"When I left my employer, I had only my purse," she said. "I left my cellphone, jewellery and other belongings inside their home."

rruiz@thenational.ae