A MAID IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED
Hiring of maids has been a touchy issue in the country. There were reports of maltreatments, harassments and abuses by employers of their maids. There were also cases of human trafficking and non-payment of salary. Employers, on the other hand, have been complaining of shortage of ‘reliable domestic help’ while others have resorted to the ‘black market’ to fill in the gap which resulted in paying higher fees to get a maid.
The situation hit a snag back in 2014 when labour-exporting countries like the Philippines stopped deploying maids after the UAE Ministry of Interior introduced a unified contract for domestic workers that led to the suspension of consular offices’ role in verifying and attesting contracts of maids. Philippine domestic laws stipulate the mandatory attestation of contracts as a security measure and to ensure that household service workers (HSWs) will receive a minimum monthly salary of $400 (Dh1,460).
Indonesia, meanwhile, imposed in 2015 a deployment ban of domestic workers to all countries in the Middle East, including the UAE. Indonesian consul Rijal Al Huda said: “There was no legal framework that provides protection to Indonesian maids and that’s why the ban was imposed.”
At present, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has begun processing the recruitment and employment of domestic workers in Dubai early this year, a move that has been hailed by diplomats of labour-exporting countries and recruitment agencies as a step in the right direction.
Previously, applications for domestic workers, including housemaids, cooks, security guards, drivers, gardeners and shepherds were processed and approved at the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs offices across the UAE.
This mandate — ordering sponsors who wish to apply for a working visa for a domestic worker to go through the MoHRE and not the Interior Ministry — was first implemented in Dubai but will be extended to the rest of the country in the second quarter. In an earlier interview with
Khaleej Times, Philippine ConsulGeneral Paul Raymund Cortes said: “We welcome this development and hope that this would lead to more safety nets and better promotion of the welfare of our household service workers. The UAE Government’s new policy reflects their strong commitment to human rights, and ethical business and recruitment in labour migration.”
There is, however, still no clear picture whether or not maids will be deployed unencumbered to the UAE.
An alliance of Dubai-based recruitment agencies has called on the Philippine government to start processing the verification of papers of domestic workers to lessen the cost of hiring maids and to prevent cases of human trafficking but the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) in Dubai is still awaiting instructions from Manila, according to Rosalie Uzzaman, spokesperson of Cooperation Among Foreign Recruitment Agencies (CAFRA).
Uzzaman said even if an employer will comply with all the requirements at the MoHRE and acquire an employment visa, the prospective maid still has to undergo ‘processing’ at the home country.
Philippine Labour Attache Ofelia Domingo confirmed this. She told Khaleej Times, however, that they are already accepting pre-qualification requirements from recruitment agencies and individual employers. Uzzaman said that because of the deadlock, some employers have resorted to getting the services of unscrupulous agencies who are supplying maids at a high cost and with no regulatory mechanisms.
The modus, according to Uzzaman, is that agencies or even some individuals bring to the country ‘maids’ using tourist or visit visas. Once here, their status is changed to employment.
Nancy Alabata, president of Dubai Overseas Filipino Workers and founder of a group called Jebel Ali Village Nannies, said: “Some agencies bring to the country jobseekers on threemonth tourist visas. The cost is initially shouldered by the agency but is eventually deducted from the maids.”
The demand for maids is high and the supply is low. This has only led to exorbitant recruitment fees paid by employers. Uzzaman said the cost of getting a maid now is around Dh19,000-20,000 which used to be only Dh10,000. Maids are also not given pre-departure orientation, causing some of them to be “shocked working in a foreign land.”
This set up has also resulted in cases of human trafficking as workers leave their home country undocumented and under vulnerable conditions. According to Uzzaman, they knew of instances wherein maids have left the Philippines using job orders from Cyprus but ended up in Dubai.
“A job order is a requirement for the deployment of a maid and this is verified by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency. Because of the virtual ban in the deployment of maids to the UAE, some companies use fake job orders,” Uzzaman explained.
Uzzaman said if maids do not go through the proper channels like a recruitment agency, there is no monitoring system to check on their condition once they started working.
“Our call is simple: Start the processing of maids to the UAE. The hiatus in the deployment of maids has not given them protection but on the contrary has made them more vulnerable and the hiring process costly,” Uzzaman added.
Some agencies bring to the country jobseekers on threemonth tourist visas. The cost is initially shouldered by the agency but is eventually deducted from the maids.” Nancy Alabata, president of Dubai Overseas Filipino Workers
Because of the virtual ban in the deployment of maids to the UAE, some companies use fake job orders.” Rosalie Uzzaman, spokesperson of CAFRA.