Saudis to be fined for failing to receive housemaids at the airport

The sponsors of housemaids who fail to pick them up at the airport will be fined, the country’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development has been quoted as saying.

Spokesperson Khalid Abalkhail told Arabic daily Al-Watan that the failure to receive housemaids upon arrival the kingdom will result in them being transferred to a shelter home for a maximum of 15 days.

For each day spent at the facility the sponsor will be charged SAR150. After the 15-day limit is up the housemaid will then be transferred to another sponsor.

Sponsors in the kingdom are able to check the status of their housemaids via the Abshir portal, Eastern Province Passports Department spokesman colonel Mualla Al-Otaibi told the publication.

The system also allows the sponsor to allocate someone to pick up a housemaid if they cannot do so personally.

Housemaid sponsors are requited to meet recruitment company scorts at the airport, who guide the housemaids through the customs and passport processes.

However, some have complained that the process of receiving the housemaid can take up to six hours in some cases.

Last month, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development introduced a new smartphone app to recruit housemaids.

Read: Saudi labour ministry introduces maid recruitment app

This followed that maid recruitment fees in the country would drop by about a fifth this year due to new sourcing deals to be signed with Somalia, Ethiopia and Chad

Read: Saudi housemaid recruitment fees to drop by a fifth