By Bassma Al Jandaly | Gulf News

RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE – An overwhelming response was received from readers in the UAE and Oman, who wanted to donate in order to help repatriate the body of a woman from Ethiopia who has been lying in the morgue for more than a month.

The sponsor and the labour agency who brought the housemaid here were in dispute over the responsibility of repatriating the body of Alemitu Girma Hailu, a 19-year-old Ethiopian woman, who came to work for a family in Ras Al Khaimah, but fell ill after a few days of her arrival due to heat stroke.

Gulf News got huge response from readers who called and also sent e-mails from all over the country and Oman offering help to repatriate the body. The process for repatriation of the body started on Sunday.

A senior official from Ras Al Khaima Naturalisation and Residency Department said that they would speed up process and would fully cooperate.

"The recruiting agency and the sponsor delayed the repatriation. We feel sorry for what has happened," he said.

Alemintu is the eldest daughter of a very poor parents who sent their daughter to work here in order to support them in their hard life.

While the mother and the father of Alemintu are waiting to receive their daughter's body, the sponsor and the labour agency are haggling over who should take the onus for the cost of repatriation and the cancellation of the visa.

Readers expressed shock regarding the incident, especially since the cost of her visa cancellation and repatriation of her body is less than Dh5,000.

A number of readers had already contacted RNRD in order to speed up the process of cancelling Alemintu's residency visa and to finalise the needed process to send the body home.

"This is a sad day for humanity. I don't want to say any more except that," said one of the readers.

Other readers consider the act from the sponsor's side and the agency as selfish and inhuman. "I cannot believe how people could act in this way. This is so selfish," said a reader.

Another reader wondered how the sponsor, the agency and RNRD could accept such thing.

"The woman should be buried and laid to rest. We feel sorry for her family," said another reader.

Alemintu spent two months in the hospital in coma before she died on October 9. Her body is still at the morgue waiting to be sent home but with the help of good Samaritans, the body could be repatriated this week.

Alemitu worked only two weeks for the Arab family in Ras Al Khaimah when she was admitted to Ebrahim Bin Obaid Allah hospital in Ras Al Khaimah for heat stroke.

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