JEDDAH, 21 June 2007 — Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the recruitment committee at the Council of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, is heading for Jakarta to tackle the situation arising out of a steep hike in the salaries demanded by Indonesia for its overseas housemaids.
Indonesia recently increased the monthly salary structure for its maids at overseas locations from $125 to $470. This has been done after a similar increase was announced by the Philippines. “We had to follow suit,” said an official at the Consulate General of Indonesia yesterday.
Saudi recruitment agents said that hiring an Indonesian maid would now become an expensive proposition as they had to additionally spend at least SR2,000 as visa fee.
“Indonesia has apparently announced the increase following the Philippine move,” said Abdullah Al-Abdullatif of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s recruitment committee.
The Philippines has stipulated a set of new conditions for hiring its housemaids in the Kingdom. One of the conditions state that the monthly salary of its maid should be SR1,500 instead of SR700, a demand rejected by Al-Baddah.
Saudi recruitment agencies have termed the Indonesian move to seek a hike in the salaries of its maids as “unilateral” and “illogical”. This has been done without consulting the Kingdom and is, in fact, causing a delay in the arrival of maids from that country, Al-Abdullatif added.
The local agents are now considering a suggestion that they should find other countries for recruiting housemaids including Vietnam and Cambodia.
Al-Baddah said he would discuss the issue with Indonesian labor officials during his visit. He has advised the agents that they should wait until he returns from Jakarta.
Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka are among the major suppliers of housemaids to the Kingdom. Indonesian expatriates in the Kingdom number 850,000; more than 60 percent of them are employed as housemaids. Among 800,000 Filipino expatriates, 240,000 are housemaids.
Even as the housemaids issue is assuming new dimensions, reports suggest that member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council are planning to unify their stances with regard to future negotiations with countries providing domestic help. The move was proposed by the Saudi recruitment offices following the Philippine government’s decision to apply various conditions on the employment of its maids in the Kingdom.
