Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Hendrar Pramudyo, the minister counselor at the Embassy of Indonesia, has said his government has not advised them of any changes to the status of an embargo on recruitment of domestic workers from the country. He was reacting to a report published in a local Arabic daily that said Indonesian maids would start coming to the Kingdom after Haj. Yahya Al-Migbil, head of the recruitment committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that only the Ministry of Labor could have a final say in the Indonesian visa issue. “So far we are recruiting from Ethiopia and to a less degree from Sri Lanka. We have not received any information that Indonesian maids can start coming back to the Kingdom soon," said Al-Migbil. Both Indonesia and Philippines refused to send domestic workers to the Kingdom until several demands safeguarding their interests were met. The Saudi Ministry of Labor responded by slapping its own ban and criticized the demands of the Indonesian and Philippine governments as unrealistic. In a press statement the Saudi Ministry of Labor said that it banned recruiting maids from Indonesia and Philippines due to illogical and costly recruitment demands that the two governments were making. Among other demands, the two countries wanted a guarantee that the rights of their nationals will be protected by the local law in accordance with international standards. The newspaper claimed that Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh would be signing a new agreement with the two countries that will put an end to the ban. According to Okaz newspaper, recruitment offices are now scouring new markets such as Nepal, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Cambodia until the ban is lifted. It said the Indonesian minister of labor is expected to visit the Kingdom soon to sign an agreement with the Saudi side and end the impasse.
