Saudi citizens have been asked to temporarily stop applying for hiring housemaids from Indonesia following furor caused by severe torture of a maid from the southeast Asian country by a local female employer last month.
The request was made Sunday by Saad Al Baddah, head of the labour recruitment committee at the Saudi chambers council.
“Baddah has issued instructions for all Saudi citizens not to apply for visas for Indonesian domestic workers until further notice,” Kabar daily reported.
“Baddah said the Committee is still involved in negotiations with Indonesian officials about the recent incidents and they could last at least four months.”
The paper said Baddah was referring to the murder of an Indonesian housemaid in north Saudi Arabia in October and the torture of another maid by her female employer in November. Sumiati Salan Mustapa’s abuse by her employer in the central town of Madina has triggered public and official furor in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, where there were calls to stop sending maids to that country.
A court in Madina opened hearings into Mustapa’s case last week amidst calls for severe punishment of the 53-year-old employer, who denied the charges at court, claiming the maid had hurt herself.
Kabar quoted a Committee statement as saying there would also be a delay in the entry of Indonesian domestic workers whose visas have been issued.
“You are urged not to make any applications for Indonesian domestic workers at any unauthorized recruitment offices,” the statement said. “Indonesia has taken some measures that will result in the delay of arrival of those workers.”