The number of Indian housemaids fleeing their sponsors in Qatar has seen an alarming increase over the past two months.
According to a senior official of the Indian Community Benevolent Fund (ICBF) who visited a deportation centre last Thursday, there were 73 Indian women detainees and a majority of them were housemaids waiting to be sent back home.
"This shows a rapid increase, when compared to the 54 Indian women whom the ICBF team met during a similar visit in May this year," ICBF's president Nilangshu Dey said on Thursday.
ICBF is a voluntary organisation set up to help the Indian community in Qatar. Established in 1988 by few prominent Indians in Dubai under the umbrella of the Indian embassy, the fund has been administered and run by the community. It provides relief and financial assistance in appropriate cases to deserving Indians in distress.
"Most of the maids had fled their sponsors and landed at the deportation centre in order to be sent back home," Dey said.
He also said that the number of Indians seeking medical assistance from the ICBF had also gone up recently, The Peninsula reported.
The ICBF has been operating a helpdesk at the Indian embassy in Doha to provide emergency assistance to Indians. Last Sunday, it opened similar facilities in the Al Khor and Dukhan cities of Qatar.
{{/usCountry}}The ICBF has been operating a helpdesk at the Indian embassy in Doha to provide emergency assistance to Indians. Last Sunday, it opened similar facilities in the Al Khor and Dukhan cities of Qatar.
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