A number of countries with whom the Kingdom has signed accords to import housemaids have put on hold exporting house helps demanding insurance policies for the recruits. Quoting an informed source, Makkah daily said on Tuesday that the exporting countries wanted to protect their housemaids in case their employers did not pay them stipulated salaries and other fringe benefits. "These countries are determined to safeguard the rights of their housemaids and ensure return tickets in case their employers fail to pay them their emoluments," he said. According to the source, the center to care for the affairs of the housemaids in Riyadh is spending SR200 daily on every housemaid. The center takes care of the housemaids who have escaped or are refusing to work for their sponsors for various reasons including heavy house chores or delaying of payments. Adil Al-Issa, spokesman of the executive committee of the insurance companies, said they have asked the Labor Ministry to furnish them with some statistics regarding some issues concerning the housemaids such as their huroob status or refusal of work to design the insurance policy but the ministry has not yet responded. He said the insurance companies are part of a technical committee consisting of representatives from the Labor Ministry and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) which has been working on an insurance policy for the housemaids to be adopted by insurance companies. "We have not received any data from the ministry. The finalization of the insurance policy for the housemaids is suspended waiting for the statistics from the Labor Ministry," he said. Under the general framework of insurance policy, a certain amount of money is expected to be paid to the insurance company to compensate both the employer and the housemaid in case of differences. The employer will be compensated for the amount of money spent on recruitment if the housemaid refuses to work without being subjected to maltreatment or violence. A member of the recruitment committee of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry said once issued, the insurance policy would be a great incentive to import housemaids from several countries. The member, requesting anonymity, said the Labor Ministry was requested to provide some data for the finalization of the insurance policy for the housemaids a long time ago but was still keeping a stoic silence.
