Sayeda is a simple girl from Ismailia who works as a hairdresser in Saudi Arabia. At this time, there are ongoing efforts to bring her and six other girls back to Egypt after they had differences with their proprietor. Public opinion was occupied with Sayeda's story and the stories of others, such as that of the two Egyptian doctors that were sentenced to prison and 1500 lashes each. Many such stories reveal the suffering of Egyptians abroad. But the more important question here is: Do Egyptians accept what others do not? Did poverty at home make us doom ourselves without thinking and without regard for our dignity? How do Egyptians value work?
Sayeda and her colleagues have signed sham contracts for mediocre money. They have traveled through Libya, Jordan and other such strange ways because people working in certain professions are banned from working abroad. This is where the problem all started. They had to circumvent the law. And because the law does not protect the dupe, they found themselves threatened with imprisonment in Saudi Arabia, whereas their sham contracts cannot help them. There have been many similar stories, as Egyptians do not care about contracts, rights or obligations. They are only interested in achieving a dream - or rather illusion - by any means. And when push comes to shove, they ask the government to save them. Of course, all citizens here and abroad are the responsibility of the government. But what can the government do about circumventing the law and accepting sham contracts? People were angry with Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel Hadi when she rightly banned Egyptian doctors from working in private hospitals abroad. She was attacked on the pretext that we have millions of Egyptians working abroad that need to maintain their living. Perhaps we should maintain our dignity first, as it is far more important than bread.
Perhaps the government should prepare samples of proper contracts and educate the people of their rights. Perhaps they should be told that living here is better than dying in Italy or Greece. However, this does not absolve the proprietors in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere of their responsibility. It also does not absolve the government of its responsibility towards the citizens. But we must first know our rights, namely proper contracts and travel through legitimate ways and not escape via other countries. We are not less than the Lebanese or the Jordanians or any other Arab nationality. We have rights and duties that all parties must abide to. If you do not preserve your dignity, nobody else would. Know your rights first.
