Housemaid smuggling is on the rise ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Activity of illegal networks, which lure housemaids to run away from their sponsors and work on a daily wage basis for random employers, has increased dramatically over the past few weeks.

Illegal housemaid recruitment is expected to increase this month thanks to a delay in signing agreements between the Labor Ministry and labor-exporting countries.

Housemaid smuggling is particularly rampant in the Nairiyah governorate, where maids, mostly from Ethiopia, are often given shelter and offered employment on a daily wage basis.

Many have said that the runaway phenomenon undermines regulations, creating a black market for housemaid recruitment in contravention to Passport Department and Labor Ministry regulations.

Malfi Suleiman, a citizen, said his maid disappeared a week ago, along with another maid who was working at a relative’s house.

“She ran away a year ago, but the police managed to get her back,” she said. “When I began completing deportation procedures, she cried and begged me to allow her to stay.”

“She had been working at my house for two years before she ran away the first time,” she said. “She continued to work at my house until one night, a week after renewing her residency, she ran away for the second time and was seen by witnesses leaving in the company of two women.”

Another citizen, Faleh Khamis, said another three maids have run away from their sponsors in the past month with the help of an individual who smuggled them in his car.

Several citizens proposed imposing a fine on runaway maids and blocking their travel until they have acquired a statement from their employers stating that they had been paid their dues.

Permits and travel documents should also not be granted until penal measures are imposed, they suggested.