Abdo Khal

Okaz

 

WE are the kind of people who depend on others to scratch their heads for them. We always look for others to serve us. If you dare call for an end to the recruitment of maids, everybody will ask that you be burned down in a public square for the heinous crime you have committed. This is the actuality of our society. A new bride will prefer to stay at her parents' home unless her husband hires a maid and driver to serve her in her new home. It is domestic helpers who run our lives. They are involved in every detail of our daily life. Our standing vis-a-vis domestic helpers is exactly the opposite of the attitudes of other societies.



If you want to avail the grace period granted to foreigners to correct their legal status and decided to visit any of the Southeast Asian consulates in Jeddah, you will immediately discover the large number of the housemaids who have been hiding from their employers. Considering the large numbers of foreigners wishing to correct their status, I do not think the grace period of three months will be enough, especially since two months have already passed without much being done. The number of foreigners is simply too much while processing times at the Passport Department and the Ministry of Labor too long.



Many citizens were under the notion that they could avail the grace period to obtain a housemaid easily. This notion is completely false. Instead of being happy about the new arrangements to correct their status, many maids started to impose new conditions on employers, conditions which were not included in the work contracts prepared by the recruitment offices. Anyone who has had a chance to listen to the negotiations between maids and their employers will come to realize that the grace period did not include terms and conditions which are binding to both parties. The negotiations depend largely on the mood of the maid and the need of the employer for her services.



The negotiations start with the salary which now stands at an average of SR2,000 per month. Previously, maids used to work for anywhere between SR1,000 to SR1,500. Because the procedures organizing the grace period did not make any mention of salaries, this remains a negotiable issue. In addition to a high salary, maids are also stipulating other conditions.



Some citizens fear that things will return to the way they were; when the maid corrects her status, obtains a residency permit, she may run away from her employer as many have done in the past. Many maids are well trained in escaping (Huroob) from their employers and nothing was done to any maid who ran away from her sponsor in the past. They have all become accustomed to the pattern of the Passport Department’s inspection campaigns which begin vigorously and subside with time. The campaigns are serious for a few days then go into deep slumber for a year or more. The joint campaigns between the Passport Department and the Ministry of Labor should continue unabated throughout the year. They should also be carried out throughout the day and not just during working hours. Most importantly, the habits of our society must change. We should learn to depend on ourselves instead of others and reduce our dependence on maids and drivers.