STOCK house maid
Illustrative image. Image Credit: Gulf News Archives

Cairo: Saudi Arabia will soon open recruitment of domestic workers from eight African and Asian countries, an official has disclosed.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development Saad Al Hamad told the Saudi economic newspaper Al Eqtisadiah that those countries will join 16 other countries from which domestic labour’s recruitment is allowed.

Employment of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia is currently allowed from the Philippines, Niger, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Mauritania, Uganda, Eritrea, South Africa, Madagascar, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Mali and Kenya.

Saudi labour authorities have recently sought to regulate the domestic labour market. To this end, the Musaned domestic labour programme has been launched to help customers learn about their rights and duties and related services including visa issuance, recruitment requests and contractual relation between the employer and the worker.