PHL, Saudi execs agree to lift deployment ban on domestic workers

Philippine and Saudi officials have signed an agreement lifting the deployment ban on household service workers to Saudi Arabia, the Philippine mission in Riyadh said.

Arab News on Monday quoted Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin Tago as saying they are waiting for an official notice on the agreement.

“The two sides agreed to sign an agreement on the resumption of the deployment of new Filipino household workers to Saudi Arabia. However, we have not yet received an official notice regarding it,” Tago told Arab News.

Tago cited a Philippine newspaper report quoting Philippine Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz as saying Saudi Arabia would lift within the month the suspension it imposed in 2011 on the hiring of new Filipino maids.

The Arab News report said Cruz was also quoted as saying the breakthrough resulted from a meeting in Manila last week between a technical working group including representatives from the Philippine labor department and the Saudi Embassy in Manila.

Both sides had met in Manila in April to discuss the issue.

Last March, Saudi Arabia suspended the processing of employment contracts for new Filipino maids over a Philippine requirement that Saudi employers submit a sketch of their homes and disclose their annual income.

The Philippine labor department had set the minimum monthly salary for household workers in 2006 and wanted to upgrade the status of Filipino maids.

It also sought to reduce the deployment of such workers.

Saudi Arabia also contested the Philippine requirement of $400 as a minimum salary for maids and other household workers, Arab News reported.

It said the Saudi government wanted the amount reduced to $210, which the Philippines turned down. – VVP, GMA News