THE issue of lifting the ban on the recruitment of housemaids from southeast Asian countries, especially Indonesia, will remain a thorn in our sides as long as it remains unsolved. There are conflicting statements on the issue. One day we read a statement that the issue has been finally resolved and the next day we will read another statement saying that it is still being negotiated. The Ministry of Labor makes the people who need housemaids happy one day when it says the negotiations are in their last stages and unhappy the next day when it says the talks are still continuing. The problem is aggravated further when recruitment from Ethiopia was also stopped after discovering that the Ethiopian housemaids are not suitable to work for Saudi families. Compared to the Ethiopians, Indonesian and Filipino housemaids have much less problems. However, the issue of recruitment from Indonesia is still in the balance, as the two sides have not yet reached any agreement. The surprising thing is that the chairman of the National Recruitment Committee Saad Al-Baddah has many times told us that the issue has been solved and that the Indonesian and Filipino housemaids will be on their way to the Kingdom within a few days. This has never happened. I wish Al-Baddah would dedicate his time and efforts to the most important issue, which is the establishment of big recruitment companies in coordination with the Ministry of Labor. These companies will import the manpower under their sponsorship and their own responsibility. Whoever wants a driver or a housemaid will go to any one of these companies. This is the ideal solution that is being carried out in neighboring countries. A citizen may hire a housemaid from these companies by the hour without any difficulty. I hope that Al-Baddah will focus on this issue and make more of an effort to expedite the establishment of these recruitment companies. The companies should have branches in all the big cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. This is much better than making flying and contradictory statements that dissolve into thin air.
