Illegal hiring of SL maids continues

24 February 2013 10:52 am

Brokers and labor offices in Saudi Arabia are continuing to promote recruitment services of housekeepers from Indonesia and Sri Lanka despite an announcement by the Ministry of Labor that negotiations for recruitment are still ongoing.

Recruitment from these countries was suspended following a series of incidents involving housemaid abuse.

“These offices are run by brokers who take advantage of the growing need of citizens for domestic help,” said Nasser Abu Serhud, head of the international company for recruiting.

He called for cracking down on such offices, especially in light of the fact that their main objective is to obtain quick cash illegally.
On the other hand, an official at the Labor Ministry stated that negotiations with Jakarta are still ongoing. At the same time, he stressed that the minimum wage for domestic help was fixed at $ 400 (SR 1,500) within the framework of the agreement signed by Manila, which differs from those announced by these offices and brokers.

Citizens have been receiving text messages via Watsapp with names, phone numbers, and email addresses of offices that have begun recruiting business from Indonesia, claiming it is a new system instated by the Labor Ministry.

In these messages, they offer contracts for a period of two or three years with a monthly salary of SR 800.(Arab News)