Kuwait To Hire Maids Through Manpower Agents

Kuwait has changed the procedure to hire housemaids under pressure from Sri Lanka, Philippine, Cambodia, Vietnam and Nepal. Nepal sends housemaids to Kuwait illegally, as Kuwait is yet to open its doors for Nepalis.

Kuwait’s immigration has made it mandatory for its citizens to hire housemaids only through outsourcing agencies. Kuwaitis used to send the visa and the plane ticket to the recruited helper without seeking the help of a manpower agent. Kuwait’s immigration bureau has directed to bar entry to maids unless their sponsors used local outsourcer, Arab Times reported.

Kuwaiti government has also made it compulsory for the employer to submit a police report on their character and income before demanding housemaids from foreign employment agencies. “No domestic helper should be allowed to enter Kuwait without proper documents from a local manpower agency proving that they have endorsed him or her,” the newspaper reported, citing an immigration source.

Up to seven lakh women, mainly from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines, are employed in Kuwait as full-time live-in domestic workers. Abuse of housemaids is common in Kuwait and Kuwaiti authorities have been under pressure from outsourcing countries to guarantee safety of their nationals for years.

Mohan Krishna Sapkota, Director General of Department of Foreign Employment, says Kuwait’s move is positive but Nepal cannot encourage Nepali women to go there till Kuwait signs an International Labour Organisation convention on migrant rights.

He put three additional conditions — government guarantee of safety of the housemaids, distribution of worker identity cards and a fixed minimum salary— before Nepali government agreed to send maids to Kuwait. “DoFE has set conditions for Saudi Arabia. So should be the case with Kuwait,” he added. Saudi Arabia had proposed to hire one lakh housemaids from Nepal last year.

Nepali women go to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia through illegal channels via New Delhi and Mumbai when they don’t find opportunities at home. According to an estimate, around 20,000 Nepali women are working in Kuwait illegally while over 30,000 Nepali women are working in Saudi Arabia as domestic helpers.

In October 2009, Indonesia had stopped sending domestic helpers to Kuwait, citing “concern over abuse.” By Yadav Raj Joshi, The Himalayan