KSA curbs visa for Bangladeshi male domestic workers
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Labour and Social Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended recruitment visas of single male domestic workers from Bangladesh, according to a report published by Arab News yesterday. The ministry has also asked applicants to search for workers of other nationalities through the Mosaned website. The permission to bring male domestic workers from other countries is still subject to recruitment controls and the marital status of the applicant. The ministry limited the recruitment of single non-Bangladeshi male employees to drivers, household workers, and nurses categories only. However, the Saudi authorities are permitting non-singles to recruit male Bangladeshi domestic workers.
The ministrys spokesman, Khalid Aba Al-Khail, said the recruitment of single Bangladeshi males to work as household workers by single men and women is temporarily suspended to give priority to other needed groups. Unmarried applicants wishing to recruit male Bangladeshi household workers said some of their requests were repeatedly denied, despite being issued an application number. They were given the option of recruiting from other countries due to non-availability of visas from Bangladesh. Last year, the ministry permitted the recruitment of male and female Bangladeshi domestic workers once again, after the practice had been suspended for nearly eight years.
