JEDDAH, 5 May — A number of Saudi labor recruitment agencies have demanded an end to the recruitment of Indonesian laborers following the refusal of an Indonesian official agency representing labor export to deal with three Jeddah-based Saudi recruitment agencies, Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday.
The affected recruitment agencies are demanding a drastic cut in the Kingdom’s dependence on Indonesian labor, if the recruitment cannot be brought to a complete end.
The agencies described the action by the Indonesian labor supply authorities as nothing short of an effort to fleece them.
Sources at the agencies explained that the Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the National Labor Recruitment Committee had not commented on the decision of the Indonesian Manpower and Labor Ministry to bar the three Saudi agencies, which have suffered great losses because of their inability to supply the laborers to their local clients.
The companies also said that they had not violated any regulations which would justify their marginalization.
The charge against one of the agencies is reportedly that it advertised in Indonesian newspapers for laborers without consulting the Indonesian authorities. The authorities complained in turn that this would lead to a fall in the cost of hiring an Indonesian laborer, while the demand for the labor in the Saudi market continues to increase.
According to sources at Kingdom’s labor market, the National Labor Recruitment Committee will strive to recruit labor from other countries in future to meet the extra demand and thus become less dependent on the Indonesian labor, the newspaper added.
