Algeria: Cameroonian woman complains of abuse

A complaint of exploitation and abuse has been filed 10 days ago at the police station in Oran by a young Cameroonian woman of 23 years old.

The woman whose name cannot be disclosed left Cameroon more than 2 years ago to work in Lebanon as a maid, "It is common among us. I paid the fee for the work visa to an employment agency, and the agency sent me to the Lebanese families. I was to be paid $ 250 a month," she tells El Watan Weekend.

The Lebanese family whom she worked for mistreated her and she complained to the employment agency that offered her work in Algeria. This agency provided her a tourist visa and ensured that the Algerian family for whom she worked accomplish the formalities necessary for her to get a work permit.

Arriving in Algiers at the end of 2014, the Cameroonian lady was taken from a hospital where she recovered by a man who took her to Oran, with his sister. The man's sister had just given birth.

The work of the Cameroonian was to clean the house every day. Her passport was confiscated and was not allowed to go out alone. The Cameroonian was given bad food and she approached her employer telling him "she is waiting for her brother so she leaves for her country," said the Cameroonian to El Watan Weekend.

For three months, the man who employed her physically abused her and locks her in a room aside suffering from regular insults. Her screams alerted neighbors who ultimately alerted security forces.

Police were called to the house and she went with the employer to the police station for interrogation. But at the end, the police asked her to go home with her employer.

The young woman was threatened and kidnapped for 24 hours before being abandoned at a hotel downtown by her employer. There, some migrants got in contact with their association in Oran, who are now trying to help her return to her country.

She is now under the care of other migrants: "For three months they had confiscated my phone. I finally called my parents last Thursday to explain the situation. My mother thought I was dead."

Helpless, the young woman, who is illegal under the Law, is now forced to wait for her complaint to be heard in order to return to Cameroon: "In the 11 months I have received only three months salary. All I want now is to get my money and go home. I contacted the Embassy of Cameroon who told me that I had to complain to police before anything else," she told El Watan Weekend.