Saudis want to personally interview maids

JEDDAH – More Saudi families now want to personally interview and hire their domestic workers to ensure they get trained workers and do not have to hire illegal housemaids.

“Saudis now seem more cautious than before. They wish to interview their housemaids personally. It actually makes our work easier because our clients have to share the responsibility if their maids cheat them,” said Amer Muhammad, the manager of Al-Kuba recruitment company.

“Despite fingerprinting, the dilemma of absconding maids still exists at a certain level. Saudis are avoiding domestic workers from far-eastern and south Asian countries. They are interested in other countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya to avoid any bad experiences and financial loss,” he said.

Muhammad said that most of the housemaids from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh have been running away for better salaries.

“To justify their absconding, they usually falsely accuse their sponsors of abusive behavior and nonpayment,” he said.

There are one million domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. Some 44,124 visas have been approved for domestic workers in 2011. This is 36 percent of the total of 1.2 million recruitment visas approved for the private sector.

Runaway housemaids have been causing immense financial losses for Saudi sponsors. Every year, Saudis spend SR28 billion on domestic workers.

Umm Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, a teacher, was unable to bear the financial loss after her two housemaids from Sri Lanka ran away. She then hired Indonesian housemaids locally, who have been in demand recently after many of their illegal expatriates were sent home.

“I have been paying SR1,500 to each of my maids. They are always throwing tantrums. They never hesitate to warn me that they will leave the job,” said Umm Muhammad Abdul-Hadi.

“I applied for house maid visas from Kenya. I intend to travel soon to personally select the good housemaids,” she said.

Another victim of a runaway housemaid, Abu Wajdan decided to bring housemaids from the Philippines and was lucky to get the visa for his house maid from the Philippines before the government ban on July 2 of all housemaids from Indonesia and the Philippines.

“My Indonesian house maid stole SR20,000 from my home after giving sleeping pills to my two-year-old son and ran away. I am forced to pay SR1,400 to an illegal Sri Lankan house maid but I want to get rid of her as soon as possible,” said Abu Wajdan.

“I am going to Manila with my family for my holidays and to interview the house maid personally. I hope that the issue between both of the governments will be solved before Ramadan, when my family needs good housemaids,” he said.

An Indonesian house maid agent, who refused to disclose his name, said many illegal maids cannot find work because Saudi families are traveling abroad for their holidays. Many families also distrust illegal maids.

“After the finger printing process and the deportation of scores of illegal housemaids through ‘Tarheel’, most of the Saudi families want to bring housemaids with visas,” he said.

The agent said that with Ramadan many illegal maids will get work. But after Ramadan they will again lose their jobs, especially because Saudis are exploring new legal markets, he added. –Sameera Aziz, Saudi Gazette