Cairo: In the lead-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, households in Saudi Arabia have to grapple with a perennial problem: the flight of housemaids lured by higher pay.
The lunar month of Ramadan, expected to begin this year on Monday, is usually marked by family gatherings for Iftar at the sunset after a day-long fast. Hence, the surge in demand for house helpers.
Illegal networks of recruitment are believed to be behind the seasonal escape of such workers from their rightful employers by luring them with higher wages.
The rings are run by illegal expatriates especially in main Saudi cities including Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province where unlawful domestic workers are rife, according to the Saudi news portal sabq.
A housemaid is paid more than SR3,000 during Ramadan and in other months the wage amounts to around SR2,000, according to the report. Some families in the kingdom are blamed for this illegal business by dealing with “gangs of domestic workers” and employing them for higher pay, especially in Ramadan.
Legal action
For its part, the Saudi Ministry of Human resources has vowed legal action against fugitives and their employers. The ministry is pressing ahead with inspection tours of employment agencies including recruitment offices.
Domestic workers in Saudi Arabia include housekeepers, drivers, housemaids, cleaners, cooks, guards, farmers, live-in nurses, tutors and nannies.
As part of its efforts to regulate the labour market, the ministry has set up the Musaned domestic labour platform to help clients learn about their rights and duties, and related services including visa issuance, recruitment requests and contractual relation between the employer and the worker.
The ministry has made the contracting process obligatory via Musaned, being the official recruitment platform in the kingdom.
Late last month, the portal highlighted the average fee and caps for hiring house workers from six countries.
The Musaned platform put the maximum fees of recruiting such workers from Uganda at SR8,300 and the average at SR6,635; Ethiopia at SR5,900 while the average at SR5,259; Kenya at SR9,000 and SR7,609; Bangladesh at SR11,750 and SR9,276; Sri Lanka at SR13,800 and SR13,446; while those from the Philippines at SR14,700 and the average at SR14,447, respectively.
