The Ministry of Labor and Social Development will cooperate with Public Security to pursue those who trade in the services of runaway domestic workers violating residency and labor laws. All media outlets — especially social media sites — where ads offering the services of illegal housemaids appear will be monitored, said Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development for Inspection and Development of Work Environment Muhammad Al-Faleh. The names of the violators will be referred to judicial authorities for taking legal action. Such violations will amount to human trafficking and the perpetrators will get up to a 15-year jail term or SR1 million fine or both. The warning came in the wake of ads appearing in various media outlets, especially in social media, offering the services of illegal domestic workers. Smuggling of domestic workers with the intention of exploitation or intimidation will amount to human trafficking. The trader, broker, employer, and all those associated with them will face penalties in line with the provisions of the law to combat crimes of human trafficking, said Al-Faleh. The ministry urged citizens not be misled by ads appearing in the media to recruit housemaids illegally. Recruitment firms have to publish wages of domestic workers on the ministry's Musaned portal and list their professions and nationalities. With Ramadan a few weeks away, the black market for housemaids has again flourished. Quoting the director of a recruitment office in Jeddah, Makkah daily said that the cost of transferring a housemaid from her sponsor to a new employer has reached as high as SR50,000 while her salary for the month will be about SR6,000. The demand for housemaids grows during Ramadan because of the numerous household chores, guests and social events.
