Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Several members of the Shoura Council on Monday demanded a review of the draft agreement signed with Indonesia for hiring domestic workers. They claimed that the pact was tilting toward the Indonesian side at the expense of the rights of Saudi employers. As such, the Council decided to return the draft to the administration and human resources committee to carry out further studies, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. Taking part in the debate, a member said the agreement was defective in the sense that it favors the Indonesian side and does not protect the rights of Saudi employers. Another member said the Saudi side seems to be the weakest when provisions of the agreement are taken into account. “There has been generalization of even a few violations on the rights of Indonesian workers by their Saudi employers, and this is not desirable,” she said. Fahaad Al-Hamad, assistant president of the Council, said the member criticized even the very title of the agreement namely ‘Agreement on hiring and protecting rights of Indonesian domestic workers.' “This apparently shows that the Saudi negotiator ignored the rights of heads of Saudi household who are facing problems such as running away of maids and high cost for hiring domestic help,” she said. Another member noted that there was no provision in the agreement to address the problem of high recruitment cost. The Council demanded the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority sets up a center to make it a reliable source for a comprehensive and updated information on investment opportunities as well as features and details of the industrial and commercial activities in the Kingdom.
