Dubai: Residents complain they are being harassed and losing huge amounts of money down a ‘maid sinkhole’ as agencies exploit their need for domestic help.
“I lost Dh30,000 in a year to different maids,” complains Poornima Mehta, a businesswoman from Dubai.
Mother-of-two Mehta went through an agency and had to pay Dh8,000 as a service fee to them for hiring an Indonesian maid.
“This included the maid’s one-way ticket, however, since I had a Ras Al Khaimah visa, I had to pay a non-refundable fee of about Dh8,000 to them. This included a fee for 12 months equivalent of the minimum wage of Dh800 and other peripheral charges. I spent an additional Dh1,000 for the medical, Emirates ID etc. When the maid came she had a severe skin allergy on her hands. So I could not get her to cook food. I complained to the recruitment agency and they glibly told me, this was a minor issue which could be handled with medical help. They added they would replace the maid only if she refused to work and since this was not the case, I had to accept her. We had a serious communication problem as the maid only spoke her native language. Despite all that I somehow struggled with her and one fine day, three and half months later, she just absconded. When I went to RAK free zone to register an absconding complaint, they asked me to submit an additional Dh2,000 as her return airfare,” said a harried Mehta.
As if this was not enough Mehta spent Dh5,000 on her next maid from Nepal who then decided she wanted to return home.
“Luckily in her case, I did not stamp her visa and was able to send her back within two months of her grace period.”
‘Waste of money’
Mehta wishes the desperation of residents was not exploited with confusing paperwork and the dominance of recruitment agencies.
“It is such a waste of money, especially if a maid decides to run away. I wish the recruitment fees were standardised across the emirates and the paperwork was more simplified,” said Mehta, whose husband works in another country and she has to manage her business and home with help twice a week from hourly maid hiring services.
Another Omani national, who declined to disclose her name, is yet to get a maid, despite doing all the paperwork with a recruitment agency two months ago.
“I previously had a Ethiopian maid but with the ban was compelled to hire a maid from the Philippines. I thought I had planned everything well, months before my baby was due. However, despite the passage of two months, the manpower supply agency I went through did not bother to even call me back as to why there was such an inordinate delay. I called up the maid in her home country and was told about the contract issues between the two countries. The maids on local hire through agencies ask for astronomical sums and I cannot pay that,” says the new mother who has to manage the running of her large home and the upbringing of her three children. “I wish the paperwork was not so tedious and complicated and hiring agencies practised more transparency,” she said.
Another resident felt the lack of work ethics and proper training for maids was posing a problem in adjustment. “I had two maid changes in year and lost a lot of money. The first maid’s husband died and she had to leave after six months. The next maid who I hired claimed to have work experience, but turned out to be dim-witted. I am struggling with her but cannot afford to fire her as I have paid such a high sum to recruit her,” she said.
