A video of over 100 Kenyan women stuck at a detention center in Saudi Arabia has caused public uproar online.
The video shared on facebook by a Nelson Mike Mithamo Muriuki, a Kenyan living in the US, shows women crowded in a room at a detention center called Tarhill.
The women tell tales of the dire situation they have found themselves in, after their employers left them at the detention center.
In the clip, many complain of illnesses caused by the unhygienic conditions they are in, some complaining of lack of basic amenities like sanitary towels.
One of the women implies that her teeth were removed by her employer.
The women are asking for assistance in getting back home.
After posting the video online, Muriuki posted several other updates, indicating that Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko had gotten in touch with him, pledging to assist the women.
In another post, Muriuki indicated that 20 of the women had been released and were en route to Kenya.
Cases of domestic workers having trouble in the Middle East after applying for jobs have been reported before.
Reports indicate that the women are mistreated, emotionally and physically.
The mistreatment is reportedly so bad, that some of the workers opt to take their own lives.
Recently the government banned the exportation of domestic workers to Jordan following reports of mistreatment of the workers.
See Government Upholds Ban on Export of Kenyan Domestic Workers to Jordan
The reasons behind the mistreatment are unclear but some of the domestic workers say that the terms of their employment are usually breached once they get to the Middle East.
Agents have also been faulted over the situation.
They have been accused of shortchanging the workers when their employers pay them.
In some cases the agents have been accused of not following up on the welfare of the workers once they are placed in employers homes.
Here is a video of the women asking for help.
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