DAMMAM: Some national recruitment offices have reportedly been exploiting the Madina incident in which authorities claimed a maid was tortured, and are demanding that their clients pay a SR1,000 surcharge for completing procedures for the arrival of Indonesian domestic helpers within 30 to 45 days. The move coincides with the recent decision of Indonesian contract offices to raise charges for the arrival of domestic helpers by $100 (SR375) to $1,400 (SR5,250). This represents the collapse of the memorandum of understanding signed between Indonesia and the National Recruitment Committee, which specified lower fees. A source connected to recruitment offices in the Eastern Province said the situation is made worse by bureaucratic problems in Indonesia and other issues. “The problem facing the national offices is not restricted to raising the recruitment charges, but it also lies in the inability of the Indonesian contract offices to complete the official procedures for domestic workers.” Another problem, sources said, is that Indonesian brokers have started implementing a policy of not supplying offices with domestic workers and concluding agreements with some other parties in the Indonesian villages. The brokers believe their actions will exert pressure on the Kingdom to nullify the agreement, which became effective about four months ago, the sources said. Contract offices in Indonesia have been forced to increase brokering fees from $200 to $400, according to sources. The sources pointed out that the process for the arrival of workers, according to the charges specified in the agreement, has become almost impossible because those on the Indonesian side are demanding an increase in the charges to reflect that they have to pay more to brokers. Sources said they are all waiting to see what will happen if there are no appropriate solutions. They confirmed that many contract offices have started giving sponsors the choice between waiting until the end of the current crisis or paying a surcharge of SR1,000, in addition to the SR6,000 charges specified in the agreement, to guarantee the arrival of workers in 30 to 45 days. It is difficult, though, to predict when the workers will arrive because brokers in Indonesia are dissatisfied with the charges specified in the agreement, sources said.
