Had President Rajapakse decided to visit Saudi Arabia to plead for mercy for the Sri Lankan maid, Rizana Nafeek, such a visit could have been of greater use both for the girl who has been languishing in jail for over five years now and for over a million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East who are eager to see a government more active in the defense of their rights. After all, it is these millions, mostly women, engaged in domestic employment under harsh conditions in the Middle East that brings in the much needed foreign exchange for the country.
It is not just the migrant workers who are watching the government's performance in this case for the release of the young Sri Lankan Muslim girl but, in fact, many in Sri Lanka who have rallied around her cause, including of course, the Muslim community in the country. In most unusual fashion the Muslim community in the East, as well as in the rest of the country, have been holding large gatherings as prayer meetings and protest rallies demanding greater action from the government. The Muslim community is well supported by all other communities in this instance. Rizana Nafeek's case has led to the mobilising of Sri Lanka's women's movements who have taken to signature campaigns and even held protest rallies in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy itself in Colombo. The Sri Lankan media has also given wide coverage to this topic and perhaps the most popular topic of discussion in recent weeks in Sri Lanka has been the plight of this young migrant worker. There is much criticism and soul searching about the plight of young women who have been forced to seek employment in faraway lands mostly working for a pittance under insecure conditions. No intelligent government should ignore the empathy that this case has generated and the type of questions that are now in the minds of many people.
The interest is certainly not confined to Sri Lanka. One has only to look into many of the best known websites in the world to see the extent of the coverage given to this case. Global signature campaigns are going on drawing literally tens of thousands of signatures and also producing many comments from persons from very different backgrounds. Several Saudi Arabians have come forward openly to speak about the case, raising many issues of ethics relating to the very accusations that have been brought against this young, inexperienced girl from a backward village that had only been in Saudi Arabia for less than a month at the time that the alleged incident took place. Other voices are also being heard, not only from the world's best known capitals but also from remote places expressing serious concerns. Almost all leading media channels and publications have given space to report and comment on Rizana Nafeek's fate.
If President Rajapakse advisors were intelligent enough they would have told him that the place he should now visit is Saudi Arabia. By associating himself with the global sentiment of sympathy that the young country girl from his nation has drawn he would have himself won the sympathy of these crowds. The criticism of the severe delay and inefficiency with which Sri Lankan diplomacy is dealing with the case may have perhaps thinned down if the president was taking such action at this time.
Well, perhaps he has missed the opportunity this time. Why does he not try to make Saudi Arabia his next stop?
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