Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — An Indonesian expatriates union announced that it would not work with recruitment offices from the Kingdom and only cooperate with larger recruitment companies in order to preserve Indonesian expatriates' rights, Makkah daily reported. Sources revealed that the union's stance is an unofficial one because the Indonesian government did not announce any official statement supporting or opposing the reports. A source reported one of the Indonesian expatriates unions came to Saudi Arabia and contracted with two recruitment companies directly. The National Recruitment Committee in the Kingdom found the act illegal because all contracts should be done through the Ministry of Labor in order to ensure the rights of expatriates and sponsors alike. The head of the National Recruitment Committee Saad Al-Badah did not approve of the union's preference for recruitment companies over offices. He said: “Recruitment is processed similarly through both establishments, companies and offices. “They are both regulated by the Ministry of Labor and follow the same procedures. “We will not respond to the allegations made by the union. “In order for this matter to be resolved, a representative from the Saudi Ministry of Labor must communicate with a representative from the Indonesian government.” The head of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce Recruitment Committee Yahya Maqbul said the recruitment offices and companies, family sponsors or individual sponsors all adhere to the same regulations set by the Ministry of Labor. He said: “This is the process followed in any country in the world regardless of the applicants' nationality or gender. “This applies to both the public and private sectors and the private sector is not allowed to hire an expatriate without the approval of the Ministry of Labor.” Maqbul added that the Kingdom has already had experience of being pressured by the Indonesian expatriates unions. “They have tried to raise the salaries before. The Indonesian worker's salary was SR769 but the union demanded SR1,200, then got it increased to SR1,500 and now they get SR1,700. “We were afraid they would try to push it to SR1,900, therefore, the Ministry of Labor announced that salary amounts are not to be set by expatriates unions but by recruitment offices in both countries.”
