No Indonesian maids and drivers from 2017 in UAE

Abu Dhabi - According to the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs though, the number of workers in the region is believed to reach 1.8 million, including illegal ones.

As of June 2017 there will be no Indonesian domestic workers in the UAE. Indonesian government sources were quoted earlier this week by Al Hayat Arabic newspaper as saying that 700,000 domestic workers - maids and drivers - will be recalled from the Middle East.
According to the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs though, the number of workers in the region is believed to reach 1.8 million, including illegal ones.
""There is a new rule to stop sending Indonesian domestic workers abroad, yet, domestic workers who came to UAE legally, according to the law of the Republic of Indonesia and the law of the UAE, will still be able to renew their contract," said minister counsellor Hendra Purnama Iskandar, head of mission at the Indonesian embassy in UAE. "This was a ministerial decision taken in June this year," he told Khaleej Times.
The ban on Indonesian workers in the Middle East first surfaced in February 2015, soon after Indonesian President Joko Widodo came to power.
Back then, Widodo announced his intentions to end the travel of the country's female workers, and was quoted as saying: "The practice of Indonesian women going overseas to work as housemaids must stop immediately. We should have pride and dignity."
The ban was made official in June 2015 and it includes 21 countries in the Middle East - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE being among them.
Indonesia's Ministry of Manpower still allowed around 4,700 domestic workers in the process of being employed in the Middle East to take up housemaids, nannies or domestic drivers jobs, but they were the last ones.
The reason for the ban was that "there are no standardised labour regulations that bind the said countries, to the detriment of migrant workers", Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri, Indonesian Minister of Manpower was quoted by CNN.
There are 80,000 Indonesian citizens living in the UAE presently, many of them, domestic workers.
According to Rudi Holean, client relations manager at MaidCV.com, an online housemaids recruiting agency for the UAE and Middle East in general, Indonesian domestic workers are preferred by Emirati families because they speak Arabic, are of Islamic religion and usually have good experience as nannies or housemaids.
Yet, for some time now, the agency doesn't have any housemaids of Indonesian nationalities in its database.
"We don't suggest employing an Indonesian housemaid because of the visa issue. Since it was announced earlier this year, there has been a lot of confusion about the workers' visa," said Holean.
"So far, 19,000 maids have already been called back," he pointed out.
According to him, after the employment visa expires, employees have a grace period of 28 days to find a new job. If they do, getting them a new visa is still possible, but if they are called back, there is no choice but to return home.
"That is why it is too risky to hire an Indonesian maid or driver now. You never know when they might be called back," mentioned Holean.
"Besides, with a bit of language and skills training, other nationalities can make very good maids," he added.
International migrant workers organisations have criticised the Indonesian government's decision, saying it will not stop Indonesian housemaids working abroad, but will drive the trade into the illegal realm, exposing workers to even bigger risks.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE