MAKKAH, 20 March 2007 — An Indonesian gang of four, who would receive absconding Indonesian maids and overstayers and arrange illegal work for them in Makkah and other parts of the Kingdom, was recently arrested by Makkah police.
The gang is thought to be one of the largest recipients of runaway maids in the region and is also said to smuggle the maids out of Makkah and into other parts of the Kingdom bypassing police-manned checkpoints.
Following tip-offs, police and passport department officials monitored the gang, who were discovered to be preparing to receive a huge number of runaway maids and overstaying Umrah pilgrims in the coming weeks.
The gang was based in the Shaeb Amer neighborhood of Makkah and managed by an Indonesian man in his 30s.
The gang leader was renting homes on his name to accommodate overstayers and escaping maids looking for work. The man recently rented a large number of apartments indicating he was ready to receive more illegal workers.
Police say the Indonesian man has been resident in the Kingdom for over five years. Officers raided his home and arrested him along with a number of overstayer maids.
The man said he was offering a positive service to people who are looking for maids but unable to hire them from abroad.
“A lot of maids that arrive in the Kingdom end up going through problems with their sponsors and are forced to run away to look for better work,” he said, adding that most Saudis prefer to have maids without going through the hassle of incurring extra costs in arranging visas.
“I take SR800 commission from each maid that I arrange a job for. I have to provide the maids with a place to live and food until she finds a job,” he added.
