BBC News Online: World: Africa

Ethiopian girl on death row in Bahrain

Yeshiwork Zewdu is accused of killing her employer using a meat cleaver.

The Ethiopian Government is calling on human rights organisations around the world to join a campaign for better conditions for migrant workers.

Ethiopia's Women's Affairs Minister, Haile Mikael Tadelech told the BBC that it was shocking for a girl of Yeshiwork's age to commit such a crime.

'Back-breaking jobs''

"It's a total shock for us. For a young woman to reach such a position, there must be something wrong going on," said Haile Mikael.

The minister said Yeshiwork's colleagues had spoken of how the girl had been subjected to physical and psychological torture for the past two years.

"She was badly treated for about two years. She was not paid a single coin," said Haile Mikael.

The Ethiopian minister said Yeshiwork had found it difficult to flee from her employer because she had lost her passport.

Yeshiwork is among thousands of young Ethiopian women who flock to the Middle East enticed by promises of a better life with high salaries and good conditions.

Faced with acute unemployment at home, many go to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Bahrain or The Emirates to look for work as housemaids.

But government officials have confirmed that many of the girls are employed in back-breaking jobs for up to 18 hours a day and some are physically tortured and raped.