RIYADH — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has tracked down 84 advertisements on social media and online sites promoting illegal trade of domestic labor services. The announcement came as Labor and Social Development Minister Mufarrej Al-Haqabani called for swift merger of the two ministries during a meeting with Commerce and Investment Minister Majed Al-Qasabi and senior officials of the now-defunct Ministry of Social Affairs. Muhammad Al-Faleh, assistant deputy minister for inspection and development of work environment, said that these ads had been scrutinized by the Anti-Human Trafficking Directorate of the ministry and forwarded violations to the Directorate of General Security to carry out investigation against those who were engaged in human trafficking. He said that individuals and their accomplices arrested on human trafficking charges will be sent to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Persecution for further legal proceedings. Their cases would be undertaken by courts to penalize them. Al-Faleh said that both the ministry and directorate have agreed to pursue culprits involved in illegally trading in the services of household workers. People can inquire or file a complaint regarding domestic labor at Labor and Social Development Ministry's customer service number 19911 or through email: www.mol.gov.sa. They can report domestic workers violating residence regulations at Ministry of Interior's customer service number 989. Meanwhile, Minister Al-Haqabani conducted a conference call with directors general of the ministry's branches in 13 provinces. He instructed them to focus on the unification of efforts and continued follow-up on the program tilted ‘From Care To Development'. The orchestrated program aims at preparing national manpower and charities' beneficiaries across provinces and moving dependent individuals from alimony to the grant of security and from state of dire needs to productivity, he added. He said that a number of workshops will be conducted in the coming months.
