Opinion

We need a better way to recruit domestic workers

July 14, 2017
We need a better way to recruit domestic workers

Abdul Ghani Al Gash

Makkah

I agree with the demands of many families with regard to the issue of housemaids. I hope that the Ministry of Labor and Social Development as well as the National Committee for Recruitment listen to the requests of these families.

Despite housemaids being a necessity in many homes, the authorities do not seem to care. Many of us have waited a long time for our maids to arrive in the Kingdom, sometimes months and even years. Sometimes, the authorities totally ignore families and block maids from certain countries without providing an alternative source of manpower.

I do not understand why it takes months and years to find domestic workers. There are so many source countries in the world. Many countries actually struggle with unemployment and recruiting from them is not difficult. However, I believe that the carelessness and irresponsibility of some of our organizations is where the problem lies. They do not understand how some families struggle without housemaids. Many people are not even aware of where they have to go to complain. There are supposed to be telephone numbers available for people to call to complain. It is very common today to wait for sometimes a year for a maid or driver to arrive from the Philippines.

People also struggle with the issue of runaway maids. However, despite this, we still do not see laws that prevent this from happening. In a previous campaign calling on overstayers to come forward, thousands of people who had run away from their sponsors were discovered. However, no rules have been introduced to prevent this from recurring.

Those who had run away were given the choice of either returning to their sponsors or choosing a different sponsor. Is this acceptable for someone who has paid recruitment costs and was kept waiting for such a long time? How can this happen and why is the sponsor of the domestic worker not compensated? This is exactly the same as laborers who do not get their salaries from their sponsors. Those laborers are actually given the right to choose another sponsor if their sponsors fail to pay them.

We hear every day about new agreements between countries. Families are happy when they hear this news. They rush to the nearest recruitment office and are then shocked to learn that the office has no knowledge of the new agreement.

It is possible to establish robust recruitment companies that are capable of recruiting manpower and bringing workers into the Kingdom within a short period of time. This actually happens in some cities but the costs are very high. Either the sponsor pays around SR5,000 or the family suffers no matter what circumstances they may be in.

It is important to take into consideration the demands of some families to once more recruit workers from Indonesia. Indonesian people, drivers and maids, can easily adapt to our society. The mistakes of some maids of the past do not mean that we should resort to stereotyping and generalization.

I recommend that the National Committee for Recruitment think seriously about this and end whatever stands in the way of recruiting workers. The present system of recruitment is totally unacceptable.


July 14, 2017
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