Alarming increase in Ethiopian suicide cases in UAE
Ethiopian diplomatic mission in UAE calls on employers to be humane in their interaction with domestic staff
Aghaddir Ali, Gulf News Reporter
Sharjah: Ten Ethiopians committed suicide in the UAE last year, according to the Ethiopian consulate in Dubai.
The suicides occurred in Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah and included seven women and three men.
A man hanged himself on September 27 last year and a woman cut her throat at her sponsor’s house. She had spent only 37 days in the country and committed suicide before her visa could be changed to an employment visa.
In December, two Ethiopians, in Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman, committed suicide.
Ethiopian Consul-General to the UAE, Yibeltal Aemero Alemu, told Gulf News that the number of suicides increased to 10 in 2017, a significant increase from the two recorded in 2016. The figures in 2016 and 2017 do not include Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.