Housemaids from Ethiopia will start arriving in the Kingdom soon. This follows the go-ahead given by the government in Addis Ababa for the recruitment of housemaids to work in the Kingdom. Recruitment offices across the Kingdom have already begun to make contacts with manpower agencies in the Horn of African country. The arrival of the first batch of housemaids within a fortnight will ameliorate the shortage in house help especially after the recruitment of Indonesian housemaids has become problematic, Al-Madina Arabic daily said. Owners of local recruitment agencies said the memorandum of understanding signed by the National Recruitment Committee in the Kingdom and the Ethiopian authorities had defined the procedures that should be followed in case a housemaid abandons her employer or differs with him. They said the Saudi embassy in Ethiopia will be responsible for authenticating medical tests ensuring that the recruits are AIDS-free before stamping the visas. The shortage of housemaids has caused an astronomical increase in the salaries of these workers especially during the holy month of Ramadan. A member of the National Recruitment Committee, who declined to give his name, said the Ethiopians will be good substitutes to the Indonesian maids in case the local recruitment agencies succeed in selecting efficient manpower exporting agencies in Ethiopia. __
