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28 March 2024

Saudi Arabia turns to India for domestic workers

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By Staff

Saudi Arabia has decided to turn to India to hire domestic workers following rifts with key housemaid suppliers to the Gulf Kingdom Indonesia and the Philippines.

Saudi labour officials discussed such an issue with Indian counterparts in New Delhi and officials said the talks produced an initial agreement to supply Saudi Arabia with domestic servants within specific terms to be inked later.

Key issues that were discussed included ways to guarantee the rights of both the workers and their employers, newspapers said, quoting Ahmed Al Fuhaid, Saudi labour ministry undersecretary for international affairs.

“We have reached an initial agreement covering many issues relating to the workers and their employers, including the need for the workers to be disease-free and have no criminal records,” said Al Fuhaid, who headed the Saudi delegation at the talks.

“We will sign the full agreement in its final form within the next few months during talks between the ministers of labour of the two countries.”

Newspapers quoted him as saying the agreement is within the Kingdom’s “keenness to diversify its sources of domestic labour.”

“It is a good pact as it will allow us to provide Saudi Arabia with all its domestic labour needs…it will also pave the way for a more comprehensive labour agreement between the two countries,” an Indian embassy official said, quoted by Aliqtisadiah daily.

He said the agreement covers many topics, including salaries and medical insurance for Indian workers, days off and other issues.

The bulk of the nearly two million domestic servants in Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, are from Indonesia, Sir Lanka, the Philippines and Ethiopia.

Indonesia and the Philippines have banned the travel of their domestic workers to Saudi Arabia over the past two years following disputes over alleged mistreatment of housemaids by their Saudi employers. The three countries have been locked in negotiations over the past months to end the differences.