Yousif Al-Mehaimeed
I received a call from the Minister of Labor Dr. Mufrej Al-Haqbani the other day during which he answered all my questions about domestic manpower. His call was in relation to an article I wrote about the Ministry of Labor and its plan to allow foreign recruitment offices to enter the Saudi market, especially Gulf recruitment offices. Many Saudis have recently begun to use the services of recruitment offices operating in other Gulf countries to hire domestic workers because a black market for expatriate workers is operating in the Kingdom.
The minister’s answers were convincing. However, we expect a lot from him and hope he will develop the work of the ministry. After all, he was an undersecretary for planning and development for a long time before being appointed minister. He has a lot of experience.
The minister told me that Saudis are also responsible for complicating the issue. He explained that if a Saudi who is unaware of the issue of human rights commits a human rights violation then the entire matter could become complicated and the country from which the domestic worker has come could put a moratorium on more workers coming to the Kingdom.
When the ministry decided to bring Indian domestic workers to the Kingdom as a substitute for Indonesian workers, it imposed a certain percentage on recruitment offices for the issuing of visas. But when an Indian housemaid tried to run away from a Saudi employer after she was not allowed to have a cell phone, the family broke her arm. The news came out and it caused a commotion in India to the extent that the Indian government had to step in to calm people down. The next thing the Indian government did was put a moratorium on recruitment, said Al-Haqbani.
Where does the problem lie? Is it the ignorance of Saudis and their negligence that should be blamed or is it the fact that we do not have a law that governs the relationship between citizens and their domestic workers? Another question that comes to mind is why the ministry did not find a solution when recruitment from India was halted? Why is it that thousands of Saudis whose drivers or maids run away shortly after arriving in the Kingdom are not being compensated for the thousands of riyals they paid to bring them here?
Are we Saudis racist and primitive? Why do some of us treat Ethiopian maids as slaves? Around 200,000 Ethiopian maids are working in the country. Do we treat them badly because they have not been given any formal training back home on how to do housework? The answer to these questions is no. Some of us do treat maids violently but the majority of us treat them kindly. After all, we live in a Muslim society. Besides, most violent incidents happen because these maids suffer from psychological problems. I believe the Ministry of Labor should have all maids checked to ensure they do not have any mental problems.
