Dubai Recruitment of Nepalese housemaids in the UAE and other countries has been put on temporary hold from April 17, according to a notice posted on the Nepal Embassy website.
A senior Nepal embassy official said the move is aimed at restructuring the hiring process of maids and preparing them better for the job through training programmes.
Housemaids seeking jobs outside Nepal must undergo a mandatory 21-day training programme in their home country.
“The training is imparted by private firms in Nepal. Our Ministry of Labour and Employment is working with these companies to make the training programmes more effective. We have stopped issuing labour permits for now. I cannot give a timeline as to when it will start again, but hopefully it will be soon,” Dhananjay Jha, Nepal Ambassador to UAE, told XPRESS.
Applications for housemaids received before April 17, however, have been approved. Jha said the new move will not effect maids already working in the UAE.
According to the Embassy in Abu Dhabi there are around 2,800 registered Nepalese housemaids in the UAE. “We don’t have the figures of those who come through touts,” said Jha.
