Citizens here are calling on the government to introduce new measures to stop domestic workers from running away, which causes huge financial losses. The measures should include requiring recruitment firms abroad to provide bank guarantees for one year, so that they can be paid compensation if their domestic workers run away during this period, Al-Riyadh Arabic newspaper said. Citizens also want tougher rules and regulations for recruitment companies in the Kingdom and more severe penalties for domestic workers who abandon their sponsors. Citizens say that this type of behavior is costing them a great deal of money, because they have paid for iqamas, medical checkups and other recruitment fees. Many say that domestic workers run away after the mandatory three-month trial period, in collaboration with unscrupulous recruitment agents. These agents know that they cannot be held responsible for the replacement costs of a worker after the three-month trial period has elapsed. Bank guarantees Muhammad Al-Maghrabi, a citizen, said he lost money when his domestic worker “vanished” after three months. “It cost me SR8,000 to bring her here and get her iqama and other paperwork.” When Al-Maghrabi went to the recruitment office, he was told he could not get compensation because the three-month trial period had elapsed. He also went to the embassy of the domestic worker, but could not get any compensation. He eventually went back to the recruitment office and was told he would have to pay SR2,000 for visa fees for a new worker. “This problem can be solved easily by Saudi embassies and consulates abroad. They should require recruitment offices to pay a bank guarantee, to be kept at the embassy or consulate for a whole year, and returned to the recruitment office afterwards. If the domestic worker runs away during her first year, the recruitment office should find another worker for the applicant without asking him to pay any extra money.” Eight-month trial period Hesham Hadad, a citizen, said other Gulf countries do not have this problem because they have better regulations which require recruitment offices to pay sponsors compensation if workers run away. “Citizens are victims of manipulation. They pay SR10,000 and after 90 days the domestic worker runs away and they lose their money. There should be laws protecting citizens from this. Why do recruitment offices not increase the trial period to eight months instead of three?” Faisal Al-Awthali, a citizen, said he and his wife decided not to apply for domestic workers again after several of their workers ran away after three months. “Housemaids already have plans to run away after three months. They know where to go when they run away. A housemaid makes sure she gets a cell phone once she arrives at the house of her sponsor to plan her escape. This problem can only be solved by the cooperation of all concerned authorities and citizens.” He called for a new law that will slap heavy fines, and travel restrictions of at least one month, on workers who run away and work for other people in the Kingdom. Adil Muhammad Kousa, a citizen, believes that some recruitment agents get domestic workers to run away after three months. “This has become a common problem. That's why some citizens do not apply for iqamas for their domestic workers and prefer to let them work for a long time without iqamas. This stops them from running away once they get their iqamas and complete the three months.” Kousa said workers must sign an undertaking promising that they will work for their sponsors and not run away after three months. Kousa believes a domestic worker does not need a cell phone and should be allowed to talk to her family two or three times a month. Obaid Al-Refa'ee, also a citizen, said certain brokers are contributing to the problem by providing runaway workers with shelter and better-paid employment, in exchange for a fee. He believes this problem can be solved by lengthening the trial period and making recruitment firms pay compensation if their workers run away.
