Domestic helps seek to escape excessive work during Ramadan

JEDDAH — As many as 877 domestic workers, wary of doing excessive work during Ramadan, reported to police stations across the country last year, Al-Watan daily has learnt. Of these, 136 were deported and 741 were transferred to the Ministry of Labor and Social Services. The number of domestic workers arriving in the Kingdom during Shabaan (the lunar month preceding the fasting month) and Ramadan last year was 8,487. Professor of criminology at King Saud University Mohammed Al-Wahid stressed that domestic workers' escape rate hits up to 50 percent before Ramadan, because of the increased work during the month. Al-Wahid said the proportion of escaped domestic workers in the Kingdom could get up to 50 percent before Ramadan because of the pressures of increasing household chores during this month. Housewives rely completely on domestic workers for help during this month that requires a lot of food preparation and extra work. Al-Wahid said many domestic workers start causing a lot of problems and commit violations then request to travel back to their countries. Some harass families and their children and refuse to work. Others attack the elderly and verbally abuse them and hit the children. A specialist in sociology and family relations, Ahmed Idris, said that domestic workers are now receiving lucrative offers from places other than the ones they work for, especially as Ramadan approaches. Despite the strict sanctions drawn up by the Ministry of Interior on each employer of illegal worker, such employment is still the most important obstacle. He explained that the recruitment offices have a major role in bringing unqualified workers or who have a criminal record in their country. "They send them to the Kingdom without verifying their security files and when you bring them here the employers suffer rebellion and violence sometimes. Punishment for illegal employment is: SR15,000 for the first attempt and deportation, SR30,000 and deportation for the second time, for a third time SR100,000 or more and deportation," said Idris.