Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM — Indonesian housemaids can no longer come to the Kingdom from Bahrain starting early next month as Jakarta has prevented its housemaids from going to Manama to work, Makkah reported on Tuesday quoting Bahraini labor market sources. An official at the Bahraini Labor Market Authority said Indonesian immigration authorities have banned the recruitment of housemaids to Bahrain. The official, who did not want to be named, said Indonesian authorities took the decision to prevent the housemaids from migrating from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. He said the ban would be effective Mar. 1. Many Saudi citizens, especially in the Eastern Province, used to travel to Bahrain to recruit Indonesian housemaids from there. The official explained that after they arrive in Bahrain on formal work visas, the housemaids would often be passed over to Saudi Arabia to work there. “The monthly salary of an Indonesian housemaid in Bahrain is about SR800 while in Saudi Arabia it is more than SR2,500,” he said. He said a number of Saudis with dual nationality would exploit their Bahraini passports to recruit housemaids in Bahrain and transfer them from there to the Eastern Province in the Kingdom. “This is a violation of the agreement signed between Bahrain and Indonesia,” he said. The official said the Indonesian Embassy in Manama had forwarded reports to the immigration authorities and the human rights organizations in Jakarta demanding a ban on the recruitment of housemaids to Bahrain.
