DAMMAM — Sponsors who do not turn up at airports to receive housemaids will be fined, Ministry of Labor and Social Development spokesman Khalid Abalkhail was quoted as saying by Al-Watan Arabic daily on Monday. He said housemaids who are not picked up by their sponsors are taken to a shelter home where they stay for a maximum of 15 days before they are transferred to another sponsor. But the sponsor who hired the maid will be fined SR150 for every day the housemaid stays in the shelter home, said Abalkhail. Eastern Province Passports Department spokesman Col. Mualla Al-Otaibi said if the sponsor does not pick up his housemaid within 12 hours of her arrival she is sent to Housemaids Affairs Office. The passports department office at the airport cooperates with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, he said. Sponsors can check the arrival status of their housemaids through Abshir portal, said Al-Otaibi. Through the portal sponsors can also assign someone else to pick up housemaids if they are unable to do so personally. "When housemaids arrive at the airport, an employee from recruitment company escorts them through the customs and passports process," said Al-Otaibi. Sponsors then come to recruitment office representatives at the airport and verify their identity information. Some sponsors complained that the process of picking up housemaids takes a long time. One of the sponsors said he had to wait for six hours before he was able to finally pick up his housemaid.
