Maid in UAE: Here's a twist to the old ban story

Nancy Alabata, president of Dubai Overseas Filipino Workers, say agencies supplying domestic helps illegally.

Despite a ban on hiring household service workers (HSWs) from Philippines and Indonesia, unscrupulous agencies are supplying them here illegally, according to an organisation of domestic workers.
Nancy Alabata, president of Dubai Overseas Filipino Workers and founder of a group called Jebel Ali Village Nannies, told Khaleej Times on Wednesday that the ban should be lifted and a monitoring of domestic helpers' condition should be enforced instead, if these countries are really concerned about the maids.

'We won't lift the ban' Meanwhile, contrary to earlier reports that the Philippines will resume verification of papers for Filipino household workers, Philippine consul-general Paul Raymund Cortes confirmed that this has been put on hold until the issue on minimum wage for maids is resolved. "Until it is resolved, it's status quo, meaning we cannot verify individual employment contracts of maids," Cortes said on Wednesday. Indonesian consul Rijal Al Huda also told Khaleej Times that he do not see the lifting of the ban "anytime soon." "The non-deployment policy is still being enforced as decreed by the Indonesian labour minister of stopping the sending of Indonesian maids abroad," Al Huda said. "Those who are already working can still continue their work but as we've imposed, we stopped issuing passports to our citizens who would like to work as maids since January 1 this year." Al Huda added: "We are still not considering lifting the ban - there has been several steps taken to address the issue but in terms of implementing the mechanism to protect our workers, we still have a lot of homework to do."

Meanwhile, both the countries have confirmed that the ban will stay and there is a lot to make them less vulnerable to exploitation.
Explaining the modus operandi of the agencies, Alabata said: "Some agencies recruit them from home countries and bring them to the country on three-month tourist visa, on the promise of getting employed."
"If they don't get employed after three months, they will be sent back and return on another tourist visa. The cost is initially shouldered by the agency but it will eventually be deducted from the maids," added Alabata.
Hiring of Filipino domestic helps by individual employers was halted in June 2014 after the Ministry of Interior introduced a unified contract for domestic workers that led to the suspension of Philippine consular role in verifying and attesting employment contracts.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has imposed a ban last year on the deployment of maids to all countries in the Middle East, including the UAE.
The Philippine government insisted on verifying the contracts of maids and also asked for a minimum wage of $400 (Dh1,468) while the Indonesian government insisted on having a legal framework, like a labour law, that caters to the rights of domestic workers.
Alabata, who has been working as a maid for almost two decades, shared a report their organisation received of an unnamed agency, which has a throng of maids on standby, waiting to be hired.
Alabata said: "Potential maids come as staff of cleaning companies and then their employment status are changed here. The problem happens when there is a switch of employers as there is no monitoring system to check on the maids."
Individual employers hire domestic helpers from the agencies contrary to the law, by paying for the maids who receive less amount.
"I know an employer who signed with an agency a monthly payment of Dh3,500 (which is much more than more than the fixed minimum wage). The maid complained to us that she is receiving only Dh 1,000 monthly; which means the agency is taking Dh2,500 every month."
Indonesian maids too costly
Indonesian consul for consular affairs Rijal Al Huda also admitted that despite the ban imposed by their government, the demand for Indonesian domestic helpers has not decreased but the cost of hiring an Indonesian maid has risen dramatically from Dh8,000 to Dh16,000.
The ban has also put a strain on some families who can't afford the high agency fees. A young couple, who requested anonymity, said they tried to get a maid for their baby but because of the high cost, they tried of getting someone on a tourist visa.
The potential maid, however, was not allowed to leave her home country, on suspicion of being an illegal worker, and the couple ended up paying for airfare and not getting a maid.
"The ban actually does not address the protection of domestic workers," Alabata said.
"If the sending countries would really like to protect the maids, the ban should be lifted and a monitoring of domestic helpers' condition should be enforced instead."
"Sometimes it is really very depressing to know the complaints of maids being locked up inside the employer's house when the family is away or of a maid, like the last month incident when an employer's wife poured boiling water on a  maid because of jealousy.
"There is also an issue of unpaid leave, maltreatment, non-payment of wages, getting little food and not being allowed to get a day off."
angel@khaleejtimes.com

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