Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH —

Police have apprehended the owner of a recruitment company accused of embezzling more than SR6 million from 440 Saudis promising to recruit housemaids for them from a southeast Asian country.

Reporting the arrest the Arabic-language newspaper Makkah said on Sunday that the man cheated his clients by convincing them that he could circumvent a standing ban on the recruitment of house helps from the country in question.

The company owner had collected SR22,000 in recruitment costs per housemaid from each of his customers before he disappeared from the scene.

The man was imprisoned in Taif while the police were searching for an accomplice, who is considered to be the mastermind behind the scam.

The victims said the company convinced them that it could hire housemaids for them from Indonesia despite the prevailing ban on the recruitment of domestic workers from the Asian country.

They said the office used a number of females to send WhatsApp messages to pick up victims from the groups asking them to come to the office to sign recruitment contracts.

The office informed its victims that in a very short time they would be able to receive their housemaids.

The victims said the office gave them receipts for the amount of money they had paid but after a period of procrastination, they were shocked that the office was not responding to repeated calls from them.

“We were in for a big surprise. All the staff of the office suddenly disappeared,” said one of the victims on condition of anonymity.

He said some victims took the case to the General Court in Makkah, which ruled that the office should repay them the amounts they had paid.

He said some other victims preferred to keep silent and not to go to the courts.

The victims asked the police to arrest the main culprit who was the mastermind of the scam.

Meanwhile, Indonesia plans to introduce new rules to protect the rights of its domestic workers flying to 21 Middle Eastern countries, including the Gulf states.

Jakarta imposed the ban in 2015 following repeated complaints of abuse by its citizens and the execution of two Indonesian maids in Saudi Arabia, who were convicted of murdering a woman and a four-year-old child respectively in separate cases.

The moratorium covering the 21 countries, including Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, was put in place only for domestic workers. However, hundreds of women defy the ban and arrive in the Gulf states daily by taking transit flights through other Asian countries.

It was still unclear whether the restrictions would be eased anytime soon.

Indonesian housemaids are a popular choice for Gulf employers, since they often speak Arabic and are familiar with Muslim religious practices.

440 Saudis paid SR6 million to obtain Indonesian housemaids

The company owner had collected SR22,000 in recruitment costs per housemaid from each of his customers before he disappeared from the scene.