JEDDAH — The deputy president of the Recruitment Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Ali Al-Qureshi revealed to a local daily on Saturday that a special recruitment company with a capital of SR100m will soon be inaugurated. He said the Ministry of Labor would allow local recruitment offices to continue to operate in addition to the new company unless the rules and regulations are changed. In the interview, Al-Qureshi advocated a need for a tough stance against domestic helpers who run away from their sponsors. He further blamed runaway domestic helpers for creating a black market for drivers and maids. “The issue of runaway workers goes back to the 1980s. At that time, the Kingdom was open and it was very easy to come and go. Sometimes a worker would overstay in the Kingdom for ten years and when he wanted to leave, he simply had to go to the airport to be deported without any punishment.” "Things started to change in 1428H when fingerprinting was introduced at the Passport Department for departures and arrivals. This has limited the number of runaway workers. Sadly, there are hiding places for runaway workers and gangs take care of them from the day they run away until they get home," he added. Al-Qureshi said runaway workers are being rewarded with deportation or with transfer of sponsorship in case they can find a Saudi family willing to hire them. "They should have been punished with jail time or a fine instead of only deportation. Everyone coming to the Kingdom reads that drug smugglers will face execution. Why can't we write, 'runaway workers will face a SR10,000 fine and jail sentence?' If this was written on the visa application form, then no one would run away and we would have never faced this problem.” Al-Qureshi went on to say rumors that Ethiopian workers are on top of the list of runaway laborers is not true. “The truth is that Ethiopian laborers are the best when it comes to working. Ethiopian domestic helpers earn SR700 a month, which is a lot when converted to their currency. A domestic helper working in the Kingdom earns much more than a government official would earn in Ethiopia.” Al-Qureshi said local labor recruitment offices in the Kingdom are facing a lot of difficulties from countries they are recruiting from because they are not honoring the agreement signed between both countries. “When we demand our rights, we find ourselves going back and forth between our embassies in their countries and between their government departments. We need to take a tough stance against these countries to guarantee our rights.”
