JEDDAH — About 200 recruitment offices in the Philippines have failed to send domestic workers to Saudi Arabia on time, a local newspaper reported quoting a member of the National Recruitment Committee. Saeed Maswi said with Ramadan set to begin soon, Saudi clients are growing restless with the delays by recruitment offices in the Philippines to fulfill their commitments. “Many Saudis requested housemaids and drivers well ahead of the busy month of Ramadan and 200 recruitment offices in Manila have failed to oblige and have exceeded the deadline by six months. The ministry of Labor clearly stated that the national recruitment offices are obliged to terminate the contract with foreign recruitment offices and refund clients,” Maswi told Makkah newspaper. Meanwhile, many Saudi citizens complained that they have not received their Bangladeshi housemaids they have been waiting for months even though the quoted turnaround is 60 days. An industry source said with Ramadan only a few days away, Saudi sponsors are growing restless as they wait for the housemaids. “The reason why the Kingdom stopped accepting Bangladeshi workers was the numerous violations committed by Bangladeshi authorities in the past and we see these violations being committed again,” the source told Okaz. Explaining the violations, the source said Dhaka used to demand that for every female Bangladeshi a male worker must be recruited as well. “Saudis really need Bangladeshi housemaids only and this is why many Saudis objected to the condition, which led to a disagreement between the two countries. “Now Saudis are facing problems again with Bangladeshi officials and recruitment offices.” He added the new regulations state the Saudi sponsor must receive the employee within 60 days from the date the client files a recruitment request. “Before receiving the expatriates, Saudi sponsors are required to pay only 25 percent of the recruitment fee. The ministry has set fines on the Bangladeshi recruitment offices for every delayed day.” He also said Saudi recruitment offices have reported their counterparts in Bangladesh do not send the workers unless they pay them a bribe of $100. “The ministry has accredited 79 offices in Bangladesh as the official recruitment offices. But even the official ones are corrupt. "Recruitment offices in the Kingdom were unable to sign any contracts with Bangladeshi offices, leading to a black market for Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom.” He added citizens are complaining they are still waiting for the housemaids they applied for. “Citizens say it has been months since they applied for a housemaid and they are still waiting. Some were forced to hire illegal Bangladeshi housemaids with the high salary of SR3,000.” He added the ministry is currently reviewing the regulations to ensure all requests for Bangladeshi housemaids are met within two months. The Saudi Ministry of Labor clarified that according to bilateral agreements, recruitment offices have 60 days to provide expatriate workers upon the clients' requests, Maswi said. “The recruitment offices in Manila have been uncooperative and have refused to do monetary transactions online. Representatives of recruitment offices in the Kingdom had to fly to Manila to get the refunds for their clients,” said Maswi. He added that a similar lack of commitment was shown by recruitment offices in Indonesia, Ethiopia and Kenya. “These refunds are a great loss to the recruitment offices in the Kingdom. The ministry issued new regulations to streamline the domestic manpower market in the Kingdom. Clients are not required to pay more than 25 percent of the recruitment fee in advance. The rest is paid once the client receives the expatriate worker he requested,” said Maswi. He also said the ministry set fixed recruitment fees such as the SR7,000 maximum limit for recruiting expatriates from Bangladesh and Niger. “The ministry also announced that any recruitment office that does not offer services to recruit domestic workers will be shut down,” said Maswi.
