MADINAH: The high demand for runaway housemaids during the month of Ramadan is attributed to women wanting to devote more time to worship and an increase in the number of guests. Since there are no arrangements to bring extra maids into the Kingdom during the holy month, most families hire illegal housemaids who charge around SR2,000 and demand weekly holidays.
“I have been looking for a maid for some time. Most of the maids I’ve had have made difficult demands such as salaries of around SR2,000 and weekends off. If exempted from cooking, they may work for around SR1,800,” said Umm Saeed, a housewife.
She was finally able to hire a maid for SR1,000 through a middleman. “The maid couldn’t speak Arabic and the broker took SR300 in commission,” she said.
Hanin Omar, a nurse in a Madinah hospital, said: “I have found an Ethiopian maid for SR2,000 to help my maid during Ramadan. Many of our relatives will be visiting us. We have to treat them well, because we meet only once a year.”
Umm Mahmoud, an old Saudi woman, said she expected plenty of visitors as the school holidays this year fall in Ramadan. “My regular housemaid would not be able to do all the cooking and other chores. I need extra hands,” she said, adding that a maid agreed to work for her on condition she be given weekends off and paid SR1,500 a month. “She said she wouldn’t do any kitchen work and warned she would leave if the work was too hard,” she added.
Fatima, an Ethiopian, said she had been working illegally as a housemaid for the past 15 years. “At the beginning I did not know how to cook or speak the language. A Saudi family employed me for very low wages. But they taught me how to cook and speak Arabic. After working with them for five years, I looked for a better job. But I was arrested and deported,” she said.
She added that after two months she returned to the Kingdom and worked for several families. “Now I earn SR2,500 a month because I can cook well,” she said.
Sarayati, an Indonesian maid who came to the Kingdom 10 years ago, said she was originally brought to work for a Saudi family in the Eastern Province. “After working with them for five years, I was sent to Riyadh and then to Jizan. Later I ran away and went to Madinah. A maid from my country introduced me to a man who found jobs for runaway maids,” she said. “He took me to a place where I found several runaway maids. He found a job for me with a salary of SR1,500 a month. I had to pay SR200 in commission to the agent each month,” she added.
Masyu runs an agency that supplies runaway maids. He told Arab News that, with the help of friends, he collects the telephone numbers of maids and then calls them to persuade them to leave their sponsors.
“If a maid is willing to come, then I will meet her in a public place and take her home. She will stay there with my wife until I find her a job. I get a good commission from both the maids and their new Saudi employers,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Zayedi, a spokesman for the Passport Department in Madinah, said the department made regular checks on illegal workers and often received tip-offs from members of the public. “People who give shelter to illegal workers can be fined SR10,000 to SR50,000 and jailed for one month to six months,” he said.
