Following high-profile reports of maid abuse, various Indonesian states are refusing to source maids to Jakarta to be sent later to Saudi Arabia. As a result, there has been a huge fall in the number of visas issued by the Saudi Embassy in Jakarta where the average number of domestic worker visas issued per day fell from 2,000 to 200, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported.

According to some reports, the stalemate in recruiting Indonesian domestic staff may continue for some time and that it may take at least two years to return to normal. The halt in Indonesian domestic workers is mainly due to an intensive media campaign against the Kingdom following a case of maid abuse in Madinah a few months ago.

Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the National Committee for Recruitment at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, urged Saudi families and local recruitment offices not to, at least for the time being, apply for visas for Indonesian domestic workers.

He also called on people to recruit housemaids from other countries. “Most of the Indonesian states have halted recruitment, not because of financial matters but because of isolated incidents,” he said. Al-Baddah said people could recruit housemaids from Nepal instead. “Efforts are underway to complete procedures to recruit maids from Nepal following a favorable decision by Nepal in this respect.

The National Committee for Recruitment is also exerting efforts to open doors from Cambodia, the Ivory Coast and Mali,” he said, adding that negotiations are progressing well.

Speaking about the current standoff with Indonesia, Eid Al-Saad, an investor in the recruitment sector, said that recruitment agents in Jakarta have exorbitantly increased their commissions from $400 to $600 per visa.

He added that this is a severe setback for Saudi recruitment offices and follows a ban imposed by various provinces to send domestic staff abroad. Al-Saad further urged Saudi employers to hire domestic workers from countries apart from Indonesia.

There are about two million housemaids working in the Kingdom, an overwhelming majority of them are from Indonesia.