A number of hurdles surround the recruitment of female domestic helpers coming from countries like Nepal and India.
According to Al-Qabas daily, the Department of Domestic Labor in the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) has prevented recruitment agencies from completing procedures for new contracts for new female domestic workers from India and Nepal if job order contracts have not been signed with specialized offices in those well-known countries.
“In light of the continued suspension of the recruitment of domestic workers from the Philippines as well as the authority’s call to stop recruitment from Nepal and India for offices that do not have work contracts with offices there, the problem of recruitment of domestic workers will definitely be exacerbated,” owners of recruitment agencies said.
They emphasized that their operations with Nepalese and Indian workers are legal and acceptable, as they approve new Indian contracts from the Indian embassy, but the problem rests in Nepal, since there are no formal agreements between Nepal and Kuwait in this regard.
“The procedures taken by the authority are legally sound, but the recruitment offices need more facilities that support their steps in providing domestic workers for citizens and residents,” says Khaled Al-Dakhnan, head of the Union of Domestic Labor Offices in Kuwait.
Al-Dakhnan emphasized the importance of expediting the signing of labor agreements with other countries, facilitating contract approval, avoiding suspensions in offices over others, and achieving public interest.
Even if there are no formal agreements between Kuwait and Nepal or Benin, the presence of female employees from these countries benefits the domestic labor market, as revealed by domestic labor affairs Bassam Al-Shammari.
Furthermore, there are official procedures carried out by offices in Kuwait, and visas are issued and approved by the Ministry of Interior. There is an agreement in place with Sri Lanka, but recruitment from it alone does not meet local demand due to the prolonged suspension of Filipino labor.
Kuwait is nearing the start of the school year, which is boosting the demand for this type of labor among Kuwaiti families, given the expiration of contracts with hundreds of workers who arrived in Kuwait two years ago and the desire of many of them to return to their home countries.
Because of the current situation, it will be difficult to attract and offer work. PAM’s processes for managing domestic workers hamper labor and widen the market gap. It is worth noting that the number of female workers arriving in the first quarter and their countries are as follows:
- 9,700 From India
- 6,896 From Sri Lanka
- 2,716 From Nepal
- 386 From Benin
Total of 19, 698 female domestic workers.
Source Arabtimes Kuwait
