KSA sends back 40,000 Bangladeshi domestic helps

Some 40,000 Bangladeshi domestic helps have been sent back home due to various reasons, according to a report run yesterday by Arab News, a Saudi Arabia-based newspaper. “Fifty per cent of the Bangladeshi housemaids who had come to the Kingdom since the beginning of the recruitment process was sent back home for various reasons, including refusal to work,” said the report. Hussein Al-Harthi, proprietor of a recruitment office, told the local media that as many as 40,000 domestic helps, which is 50 per cent of the total recruited to work in the Kingdom, have been deported. “The reasons for their return were refusal to work, lack of training in Bangladesh, language barrier, lack of adaptability to the Kingdom’s culture,” he said. Contacted, a senior official of the foreign ministry told The Independent that they will seek details on the issue from the Bangladesh embassy in Riyad. A number of recruitment office owners said the customers were given a period of three months to try the maids. If they were found inefficient during this period, the sponsor informed the office, returned the maid along with a notice received by the embassy that included the reasons for disqualification. Then the recruitment office handed the maid over to the embassy to send her back home. Ali Al-Omari, another recruitment office owner, said the number of recruitment visas issued since the beginning of the recruitment process began from Bangladesh reached 150,000. An official source of the Consulate General of Bangladesh was quoted as saying that his government intends to establish centres for training and rehabilitation of domestic workers before sending them to work. “The sole purpose of the current centres are financial gain,” said the official.

KSA sends back 40,000 Bangladeshi domestic helps

Some 40,000 Bangladeshi domestic helps have been sent back home due to various reasons, according to a report run yesterday by Arab News, a Saudi Arabia-based newspaper. Fifty per cent of the Bangladeshi housemaids who had come to the Kingdom since the beginning of the recruitment process was sent back home for various reasons, including refusal to work, said the report. Hussein Al-Harthi, proprietor of a recruitment office, told the local media that as many as 40,000 domestic helps, which is 50 per cent of the total recruited to work in the Kingdom, have been deported. The reasons for their return were refusal to work, lack of training in Bangladesh, language barrier, lack of adaptability to the Kingdoms culture, he said. Contacted, a senior official of the foreign ministry told The Independent that they will seek details on the issue from the Bangladesh embassy in Riyad. A number of recruitment office owners said the customers were given a period of three months to try the maids. If they were found inefficient during this period, the sponsor informed the office, returned the maid along with a notice received by the embassy that included the reasons for disqualification. Then the recruitment office handed the maid over to the embassy to send her back home. Ali Al-Omari, another recruitment office owner, said the number of recruitment visas issued since the beginning of the recruitment process began from Bangladesh reached 150,000. An official source of the Consulate General of Bangladesh was quoted as saying that his government intends to establish centres for training and rehabilitation of domestic workers before sending them to work. The sole purpose of the current centres are financial gain, said the official.