Sri Lankan recruitment agents are subverting official channels to raise maids' salaries from SR650 to SR800, owners of private recruitment offices in the Eastern Province have said. The owners said they did not submit to the pressure because they have other alternatives and options such as temporarily banning recruitment from Sri Lanka to foil attempts by some recruitment agents trying to exploit the ban on Indonesian housemaids. Muhammad Hamad, owner of a recruitment office in Dammam, said some offices have agreed to temporarily stop employing Sri Lankan housemaids in act of protest against agents raising their salaries. Only 30 percent of the private recruitment offices in Dammam will deal with Sri Lankan recruitment agents, he said, pointing out that the hiring freeze is also a response to agents that refuse to give additional guarantees such as an option to reject work during the trial period, Hamad said. The only guarantees provided by these offices are limited to the maids not having infectious or chronic diseases and not being pregnant, Hamad said. They have also given false promises that they would complete recruitment procedures in two months, he added. Hamad warned against dealing with brokers because it is difficult to secure refund from them in case of problems. __
