Makkah Daily reported recently that the recruitment of a housemaid might soon cost about SR50,000. It also conducted a disappointing interview with the chairman of the National Recruitment Committee (NRC). Some of the headlines used from that interview were: Indonesia will not solve the problem; Vietnam will not provide the required number of housemaids; Sri Lanka is extremely costly and the Philippines does not honor its commitments. I was surprised by this interview which to me meant that the problem of the shortage of housemaids will not be solved anytime soon. Although the problem is extremely sensitive and requires a quick solution, the Ministry of Labor and the NCR do not appear to think that it is urgent. The problem of housemaids running away from their original sponsors is still not solved. During the status-correction campaign, it was discovered that thousands of housemaids had left their sponsors. They were given the option of either returning to their original sponsors or seeking new ones. This is another example of the slackness with which the concerned authorities deal with this issue.
Why should a sponsor spend a large amount of money to recruit a housemaid if she is then going to be given the right to look for another sponsor? We are often told that the ministry and the committee have entered into negotiations with a certain country for the import of housemaids. Then, we are told that the negotiations, which have been ongoing for a period of months or even years, have suddenly stopped without any justification provided. The ministry and the committee stop the recruitment of housemaids from one country without having an alternative country at hand at a time when Saudi families are suffering from the absence of housemaids. The ministry and the committee announce that agreements will soon be signed with a certain county for the recruitment of housemaids. Few days later, they tell us that there are hurdles impeding the implementation of these agreements. Our predicament with housemaids started when recruitment from Indonesia was stopped. Saudis looked for housemaids from Africa, specifically from Kenya and Ethiopia, but again there was a decision to stop recruitment from these two countries. Citizens found themselves obliged to go again to the Philippines, even though recruitment from this country is costly and time consuming. They again began to look for housemaids from Indonesia because Indonesian housemaids know how to serve Saudi families regardless of differences in customs and traditions. A number of Saudis used social media to inform us that an agreement had been reached with Indonesia. They said that recruitment from that country would cost SR11,500 and that the monthly salary of a housemaid would be SR1,500. This online news was soon denied by the ministry and the committee who told us instead that an agreement had been reached with Vietnam to supply 30,000 housemaids at a rate of 400 per day. However, up to now, nothing has happened in this regard. The chairman of the National Recruitment Committee said that there were many countries from which housemaids could be imported. He said there would be no problem in the recruitment of housemaids especially as these countries were suffering from acute unemployment. However, again the result has been a big zero. The problem of housemaids running away from their original sponsors is still not solved. During the status-correction campaign, it was discovered that thousands of housemaids had left their sponsors. They were given the option of either returning to their original sponsors or seeking new ones. This is another example of the slackness with which the concerned authorities deal with this issue.
Why should a sponsor spend a large amount of money to recruit a housemaid if she is then going to be given the right to look for another sponsor? I think the establishment of large recruitment companies and offices will solve this problem. A citizen can go to any office or company and easily obtain a housemaid. This is what a number of our neighboring countries do. I think it is a good and realistic solution.
Something was said before about the establishment of large recruitment companies and offices but, like so many other announcements with regard to the housemaid issue, nothing has been done.
