THE Economic Affairs and Development Council (EADC) has the authority to open all economic files and to take strict decisions on them, even if these decisions are difficult and harmful. Considering the seriousness the council has shown during a short period of time, it becomes imperative on it to open the issue of manpower recruitment, especially regarding housemaids, with the labor minister. The immediate opening of this file is of paramount importance because citizens have been badly exploited by the recruitment offices that are meaninglessly wasting the funds of customers desperately looking for housemaids. The labor minister must be questioned about what is really happening regarding the issue of housemaid recruitment. He should be asked why the costs of recruiting housemaids have rocketed in our country while they have dropped in the other GCC countries? We always compare the costs of recruitment with our neighboring GCC countries. At a time when the cost of recruiting a housemaid in any one of these countries ranges from SR6,000 to SR8,000, it has jumped to more than SR20,000 in our country. This cost is insane. It has no logic to support it since the recruitment offices incur only the cost of the air ticket for the housemaid. The recruitment offices in the Kingdom are raising their fees under the empty pretexts of their high qualifications and long experience. These are not strong bases for them to increase their charges. The high costs do not stop with recruitment only but extend to the monthly salaries. The other GCC countries pay housemaids a monthly salary of not more than SR800 while we pay them at least SR1,500, if not more. The Kingdom's population is larger than the other GCC countries combined. This should have given us a better chance to impose our conditions on the countries exporting the housemaids in favor of the employing citizens. The strange thing here is that the cost of recruitment remains normal and acceptable until an agreement with a country is announced to import housemaids. The cost will immediately double or triple. There is no logical explanation for this except that there may be some shortcomings in our negotiation abilities. Or are there any unknown reasons? It is not acceptable that the National Recruitment Committee (NRC) has been playing with this file for about 10 years without reaching any conclusions. On the contrary, the result has been the emergence of a black market that is exploiting the citizens and dissipating their resources. This very unfinished file has put us in an embarrassing situation with the human rights organizations. Is it true that the cost of iqama (residence permit) transfer for a worker has gone up to SR40,000 when the cost was not more than SR20,000? Can we believe that the hiring of a housemaid in the black market now costs about SR2,500 or more? We should not be surprised to see this cost going up to as high as SR5,000 or more during the high season of Ramadan. I think the EACD can, with its seriousness and perseverance, find a solution to the issue of the housemaids. The reign of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, which started with the abolishment of 12 councils and organizations and the establishment of two councils in their place, is quite capable of solving this problem in a matter of weeks, not 10 years as was the case with the NRC, which was said to have resigned or been relieved. Whatever the case may be, there is no need for this committee to continue. If it has not been dissolved, the committee should be put on retirement and speedy solutions should be found to the problem of the housemaids that has been hanging in the air for many years.
