Saudi Arabia bans domestic workers from the Philippines

Updated 2:50 p.m. — Starting July 2, Saudi Arabia will no longer issue work visas for domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia because of its labor rows with the two countries. “The Ministry of Labor will stop issuing work visas for domestic workers for the Philippines and Indonesia from Saturday (July 2)," Hattab Bin Saleh Al-Anzi, a spokesman for the Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labor said, according to report on news site Arab News. The decision of the Saudi government will affect 180,000 domestic workers in Saudi, or about 15 percent of more than 1.2 million Filipinos working there. According to the report, Al-Anzi said the ministry decided to stop hiring domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia after the two countries imposed stricter conditions on prospective Saudi employers. New contracts made by the Philippines require foreign employers of Filipino domestic helpers to pay a minimum wage of $400 a month. The Philippine government has also urged employers to provide family information and the layout of the residence where the domestic helper will be working. The Arab News said the Saudi government wanted the Philippine government to alter these requirements in the labor contracts of Filipino domestic workers. On April 27, the Saudi Arabia sent a delegation to the Philippines to negotiate the labor dispute, but talks broke down, the report said. The report said Philippine Embassy in Riyadh labor attaché Albert Valenciano expressed his sadness over the Saudi government’s decision on Wednesday. Valenciano said the embassy had sent a “note verbale" (verbal message) to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 19 requesting for a meeting. It, however, had not received a response so far. New host countries The Philippine government said there are already host countries “willing to absorb" Filipino workers barred from being employed in Saudi Arabia. At a press briefing in Malacañang Thursday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda did not specify the countries who are willing to employ the over 180,000 displaced workers from Saudi Arabia. Despite the ban on domestic workers, Saudi Arabia government has expressed importance of migrant workers there, Lacierda said. “Labor Secretary [Rosalinda] Baldoz mentioned to us that when [she] was in the International Labor Organization conference, the labor minister of Saudi Arabia emphasized the importance of migrant workers there," he said. Migrante-Middle East, however, said the Aquino administration “must give more efforts on jobs creation at home rather than banking on sending OFWs abroad as major labor markets are now shrinking." “This is a huge setback to the Philippine economy that is too dependent on OFWs remittances. It will also give rise to the already high rate of unemployment with about 11.2 million Filipinos unemployed in the Philippines," said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator. The group said Saudi Arabia is the No. 1 OFWs’ top destination and No. 4 in the deployment of domestic workers since 2003 to 2010. Double whammy Monterona said the Saudi government’s policy to stop hiring of Filipino domestic workers and the Saudization’s Nitaqat scheme is a “double whammy to the Philippines which will have a huge impact to the local economy and will affect about 25,000 to 35,000 prospective domestic workers and 360,000 OFWs employed in Saudi Arabia." On Wednesday, Baldoz issued a statement saying that the Saudi government’s Saudization labor scheme will only have a “very minimal impact on prospective OFWs and those already working in Saudi Arabia." “We beg to disagree to the assessment of Labor Secretary Baldoz on the impact of the Nitaqat system under the Saudization program as we were receiving reports since two weeks ago of jobs terminations… [and] a halt on hiring expatriate workers," Monterona said. “Saudization" refers to the Saudi Arabia’s policy of giving priority to employing in Saudi-owned firms their nationals instead of foreign workers. The policy, which excludes household service workers, will be implemented starting September 10. Indonesia Meanwhile, Indonesia said it was prohibiting its citizens from working as domestic servants in Saudi Arabia after the beheading of a maid convicted of murdering her Saudi employer early this month. Jakarta's ban will reportedly take effect on August 1 and will continue until the Saudi government agrees to sign a memorandum of understanding to protect Indonesian workers’ rights. More than a million Indonesian workers are said to be in Saudi Arabia, mostly maids. Domestic helpers from other countries Al-Anzi said Saudi recruitment agents intend to recruit domestic workers, including maids, from countries other than Indonesia and the Philippines. He said, “Labor exporting countries have evinced keen interest" to send domestic helpers to work for Saudi families. — JE/ LBG/VVP, GMA News