UAE | Employment
Domestic workers form 5% of UAE's population
Mohammad Al Saeedi has four housemaids, one for each of his children. He says the housemaids have become such an integral part of the upbringing of his children, "one of my children speaks Tagalog while the other speaks Amharic (Ethiopian language)."
- By Marten Youssef, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:54 November 11, 2007
Abu Dhabi: Mohammad Al Saeedi has four housemaids, one for each of his children. He says the housemaids have become such an integral part of the upbringing of his children, "one of my children speaks Tagalog while the other speaks Amharic (Ethiopian language)."
As alarming as these numbers may be, this is not an isolated incident; it is in fact a common trend. Five per cent of the population of the UAE are domestic workers, according to a new study by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"I can't tell you if it's good or bad to have these many maids, but I can tell you that it has become such a necessity that it would be hard to find an Emirati family without a housemaid," Al Saeedi says.
Abu Dhabi has the highest number of domestic workers of the UAE. Of the 268,000 domestic workers in the country, Abu Dhabi has 120,000 (six per cent of the population of Abu Dhabi).
Al Saeedi affirms the study's findings by saying, "I know countless families who have more maids than there are people in the house."
The demand for domestic workers has become so high that in 2007 alone, 83,600 visas were issued for domestic workers in the nation. A number that almost doubles that of Saudi Arabia, a nation perceived to have the largest amount of domestic workers.
The study also found that Indonesians and Filipinos constitute 80 per cent of the total domestic workers in the UAE. Three billion dollars was the average annual spending on domestic workers.
But 26-year-old Mohammad Al Ganabi says this idea has to change. "It is actually not healthy to the structure of the family to have these many housemaids. It lessens the relationship the children have with the parents," he said.
Share this article
More from UAE Employment
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
The best reader pictures from around the UAE this week
Latest news
- Student tackles used cooking oil
- Road accidents the leading cause of brain injuries in Dubai
- No one wants to teach
- Notary phone bookings to start next month
- Move abandoned vehicles out of the way
- English to stay as medium of instruction
- Fishmongers, consumers trade charges
- DIFF function to raise funds for Aids charity
- Seven held trying to fly from Abu Dhabi illegally
- Trucks queue eases at Saudi border
- 15 genetic triggers linked to birth defects in UAE
- Haj mission's H1N1 measures lauded
- Employer prosecuted for false accusation
- Number of Saudi students rises
- Petrol fumes at gas stations are threat to health
Community Reports
-
Keeping out curious cats in Abu Dhabi
Felines trapped in electrical substations create a nuisance
-
Construction site turned into dump
Sharjah residents using abandoned spot to dispose of waste
-
Stop disregarding road rules
Gulf News reader calls on authorities to curb reckless driving during rush hours in Mussafah industrial area underpass
-
Public transport is the way to go
Residents must stop complaining about feeder buses taking up parking space
