DHAKA: The Bangladesh government has failed to provide the 500,000 housemaids it had promised earlier this year, with only 2,000 employed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over the past six months.

Because of the slow pace of hiring from Bangladesh, Saudi recruiters are looking to employ people from Eritrea, said Mishari Al-Thufairi, chairman of the recruitment committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Quoting local recruitment businesses, Arab News published the report on Thursday.
 
Mishari Al-Thufairi also said that it was clear that Bangladesh government wants to send men not women to the kingdom as workers.

In addition, he said brokers in Bangladesh are charging SR 20,000 in service fees for every worker, three times the amount agreed upon between the Bangladesh and Saudi governments.

Saudi recruitment offices are required by these brokers to pay SR 10,000 upfront, and then the rest once visas are approved, he was quoted as saying by a local publication.

Mussavi, a former member of the manpower recruitment committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers, said that brokers in Bangladesh were refusing to accept the agreed upon SR 7,000 in fees for workers.

He urged the labor ministry to ensure that only approved brokers are allowed to handle recruitment from Bangladesh, and follow official channels.

Al-Thufairi said that government of the African country was setting up a project to train workers for the market in the Kingdom.

He said a housemaid from Eritrea would cost SR 8,000 in recruitment fees and would arrive within 30 to 45 days.

BDST: 2007 HRS, OCT 08, 2015
RS/RR