Reviews and Endorsements of Almaz
‘Almaz – A Story of Migrant Labour’ makes for uncomfortable, but important, viewing. The experiences of many migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia are hidden from the public eye. Almaz’s story shows the multiple layers of injustice – humiliation, deprivation of wages, physical and sexual abuse, isolation, and overwork – that unfortunately are commonly experienced by women who have come to Saudi Arabia in an effort to support their families.
Dr. Laura Hammond. Head of Development Studies. School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). University of London
The story recounted here will be sadly familiar to anyone concerned with the human rights of migrant workers. The format used to relate this story will be much less familiar. The power of the simply drawn images and sparse narrative communicates this story of horrendous abuse with the immediacy that it deserves. It will hopefully ensure that stories such as this reach a much greater audience and the demands for more effective protection measures for domestic workers find more powerful voice.
Dr. Michael Collyer. Reader in Geography (Sussex Centre for Migration Research, Geography, International Development)
Joe Sacco combined cartoons and journalism with his work on Palestine and Bosnia, and Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel “Persepolis” (film version 2007) communicated to millions one woman’s story of what it was like to grow up as a girl in Iran. More recently George Butler has been reporting, through illustrations, on the lives of Syrians in refugee camps in Lebanon and Palestine. Here we have the story of Almaz. Nearly sixty years since the ratification of the “Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery” (1956) this affront to human dignity continues to be all too common, as Almaz’s experience makes poignantly clear. Through illustrations, her story is told in a way that is unambiguous and in a format that will hopefully reach a wide audience and help fire demands to respect and enforce the Convention.”
Dr. Dacia Viejo Rose. Lecturer in Archaeology (Cultural Heritage). University of Cambridge
In “Almaz. A story of Migrant Labour” PositiveNegatives visualize the real and all too common experiences of migrant domestic workers (MDW) in Saudi Arabia; based on the account of a former Ethiopian domestic worker. The main character, Almaz endures a spectrum of physical and emotional abuses that encapsulates MDW’s isolation and vulnerability to malicious employers. The illustrations creatively and critically amplify the often invisible narratives of the millions of MDWs in Saudi and wider Gulf region.
www.migrant-rights.org – (a Gulf-based organization working on migrant rights issues)