KUALA LUMPUR: Philippines maids have been given the green light to potentially return to Saudi Arabia after the two countries reportedly agreed to resume work visas for Filipino domestic workers next month as well as establishing a minimum wage for the workers. It comes after the two countries had been at odds over the treatment of Philippines women working in the Gulf Kingdom. The Saudi Press Agency reported that the new deal amends employment contracts and the procedures in order to send women from the Southeast Asian country to work in the country. Prince Khalid Bin Saud Bin Khalid was quoted in the report as saying the Saudi embassy in Manila and the technical committees from both countries “reached a bilateral agreement on the issue.” Some 1.2 million Filipinos work in Saudi Arabia, which is home to 19 million Saudi nationals and 8 million foreigners. The new deal will not violate existing Saudi laws and “will not affect the rights and privacy of Saudi citizens.” Prince Khalid added the “foreign and labor ministries are working to ease the recruitment visa procedures while preserving the rights of the Saudi employer and the expatriate employee.” In Manila, Saudi Ambassador to the Philippines Abdullah Al Hassan said all Filipinos who wish to be employed as domestic workers can secure a working visa “in a month's time.” The vast majority of recruitment offices have closed shop in the past year, after Riyadh barred Filipino women from working in the country. Saudi claimed the ban on Philippines workers was the result of too many restrictions on Saudi employers. Despite the July 2011 ban on their recruitment, Saudis were still hiring Filipino maids from neighboring countries and skirting the regulations against hiring directly from the East Asian country. At least one Saudi national was quoted as saying by Arabianbusiness.com that he could hire a Filipina maid from Doha for one-fourth of the prevailing charges back in his home country where the rates range between SR20,000 to 25,000. But sources in the recruitment business told The Peninsula that since the Filipina and Indonesian maids going to Saudi Arabia from Doha are quite few, the possibility of shortages taking place or the hiring charges going up were ruled out. Currently in Qatar, one must spend QR8,000 to QR8,500 to hire a Filipina maid, while the cost is slightly more at between QR9,000 and QR10,000 for an Indonesian maid, a manpower agency official told the newspaper. “We don't think the charges would go up due to the rising demand in the neighboring Saudi Arabia because we are preparing to bring maids from other countries, among them, Kenya and Cambodia, which is likely to bring the hiring costs down," the official said. But not everyone is pleased with the decision. A number of Filipina maids living in Dubai told Bikyamasr.com that they would “never consider" going to Saudi after hearing stories from their friends and families. “They are treated like slaves and it is horrible," Maria, who asked that her surname remain anonymous, told Bikyamasr.com. “They have been beaten, tortured and raped by their Saudi employers and the government does nothing, so why would we consider going there?"
