RIYADH — The refusal by many Saudi companies to hire Bangladeshi male workers has complicated the recruitment of housemaids from the country, leading to a black market and a sharp rise in recruitment charges. Most Bangladeshi women are not ready to work in Saudi Arabia as they cannot cope with Saudi customs and traditions while others give a lukewarm response because the recruitment of male workers from the country has halted. "The delay in the expected arrival of 500,000 Bangladeshi housemaids has complicated the situation with middlemen in both countries increasing charges," one recruitment executive said. "Only 2,000 Bangladeshi maids have arrived in the Kingdom since the resumption of recruitment from the country," he pointed out. Shamsul-Haq, owner of a manpower export office in Dhaka, said the recruitment process is delayed as a result of the tepid response of Bangladeshi women to work in the Kingdom because its "rigid customs and traditions". He said the recruitment charges went up to $3,500 because of attempts by middlemen to exploit the current situation. "Most Bangladeshi maids who have arrived in the Kingdom work for big companies, not individual Saudis," he said. Abu Faisal, owner of a recruitment firm in the Kingdom, said brokers appeared due to the delays in recruitment from Bangladesh. As a result, the costs of recruitment rose to $3,500 (SR13,000) from $1,000 (SR3,750), the fee set by the Saudi Labor Ministry. The agreement to recruit one male worker for every three female workers is another factor that complicated the issue because many Saudi companies are now reluctant to import workers from Bangladesh. Yahya Al-Maqbool, chairman of the recruitment committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Saudi recruitment companies refuse to accept new applications for Bangladeshi maids because of a 90 percent backlog of visas already issued. They also seek to avoid possible fines by the Labor Ministry for delaying the recruitment by more than two months. "The ministry has so far issued 50,000 visas to recruit female Bangladeshi workers but only 2,000 of them have arrived so far," he said. There are 180 authorized recruitment offices in Bangladesh. Saudi Arabia lifted a seven-year ban on hiring Bangladeshi workers in January 2015. It had been recruiting about 150,000 Bangladeshis each year until 2008. According to official figures, about 1.3 million Bangladeshis now work in the Kingdom, making it the largest manpower market for Bangladesh.
