RIYADH — The Ministry of Labor has been tasked by the Council of Ministers to give shelter to runaway maids. The weekly session of the Cabinet, chaired by Vice Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, also instructed the Ministry of Labor to work out, in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs, a time-bound plan to carry out this task. Minister of Civil Service and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Khaled Al-Araj said that Ministry of Labor will be the most suitable authority to give shelter to all housemaids who run away from their sponsors as well as to housemaids who were handed to Passport authorities (Jawazat) at airports and other entry points following no-show of their sponsors to receive them upon their arrival in the Kingdom. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, Al-Araj said that the Cabinet took this decision after reviewing a report from the Ministry of Interior on the basis of the recommendations of a committee, constituted in line with a royal decree, to carry out studies about the problems of such housemaids. The Cabinet also endorsed the formation of a committee, comprising officials of the ministries of labor and social affairs, to identify the shelters for runaway maids and transfer these shelters to the Ministry of Labor.
