Officials are concerned that recruiters in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia will work to undermine a new agreement that reduces the recruitment fee for Indonesian housemaids. Several owners of private recruitment offices in Jeddah who expressed concerns about the agreement, which was signed by the National Recruitment Committee and the Indonesian Unions for Export of Indonesian Workers, have called for a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday to discuss the SR6,000 fee. The National Recruitment Committee has fixed fees for the Indonesia recruitment agents at SR4,200 and the rest, which represents 33 percent of the total, as profit for the Saudi recruitment offices. It is learnt that some Saudi recruitment offices are reluctant to sign an agreement to agree to the new fee. Sources at the National Recruitment Committee expressed fears that the Indonesian recruitment agents also may not fulfill this agreement and it is also believed that some Saudi recruitment offices are working to renege on the agreement and prevent it from being enacted. Saudi recruiters said the reduced fees resulted in the delay in the arrival of Indonesian housemaids in Ramadan. Those claims are baseless because it is a common practice that recruitment slows down during Ramadan because most helpers prefer to fast during Ramadan and celebrate Eid with their families, according to sources. The National Recruitment Committee has urged disgruntled recruiters to weigh national interests over their personal gains and noted that the agreement saves Saudi service-seekers about SR2,000 because the agreement slashes fees from about SR6,500 to about SR4,500. Sources said recruitment fee does not mean to reduce Saudi recruitment offices' profits, but to address the greed of Indonesian recruitment agents.
