Domestic workers from new countries

tink, exactely! 

i wonder what's on the mind set of the locals in the middle east why they'are so cruel to their kadamas..i can't help but symphatize on their helpless and defenseless victims..was once saw a kadama in Hamad beaten so badly by her employer..and crying out loud that she wanted to go home...

tink, he may mean those residents who are on "free, business and visit" visas.

...then  they might start recruiting locally and only then they will realize that the ones they had before were better and more hardworking

amazing!What's going to happen once they have exhausted all options? Are they going to make people?

Its high time that they first come up with some laws, regulations and safeguards to protect the wellbeing and safety of the workers instead of trying to bring in workers who will be exposed to the same and similar abuses

I met a Saudi once who was contemplating buying out a "bonded labour" contract for a labourer in South Asia, so he could then employ him for free :O( 

If only this employers realized that the problem is not with the poor maids or other workers but its in the way most of them are abused and mistreated and no wonder many of them want to run away.  Getting workers from new and exotic destinations is a good idea but they have to be treated humanely and with respect for them to feel like wanting to stay and carry on working out here.

but let us say, not all of the locals are the same. there are some who treat their khadama good. but, its seldom you can see this kind of situation. there are maids that was never paid with salaries sometimes for 3-4 months. me and my friends sometimes help some of them to return back to their country. its so sad to see these kinds of situations.

~smile always~

There is a famous court case going on in Hong Kong at the moment where a domestic worker is asking for citizenship of Hong Kong just like any other professional person can acquire if he/she lives in HK for x number of years.Now HK I suppose is a much better place for domestic workers than the middleast I can only assume, but will she be granted citizenship? I dont think so, else the other thousands of domestic helpers will claim the same.

This is a mix between pay and conditions, not just one or the other.Remember that Saudi Arabia has already banned Filipinos and Indonesians working as maids in that country, after those two coutries complained about widespread rights abuses and poor salary.And ultimately the issue of salary is moot anyway.  We all hear about maids working 12 hour days, 7 days a week and not getting paid for months on end.The cynic in me thinks that this is just a tactic being adopted by GCC countries to find maids unaware of how poorly treated they will be when they get off the plane, and who will be too timid to complain at the poor conditions.  

The sad fact is that with poverty in the world, many people are willing to try their hand at working in such roles.

I can only cite the Saudi example because I was there. The experiment did not work. Many maids coming from Africa or even Laos, Vietnam were not as "accomodating" and their cultural habits did not fit in with the liks of the locals. So, they went back to recruitment mainly from Phillipines and South Asia. 

What the hell are they talking about financial burden for locals? Usually,they hire a maid,let them over work and pay them very little. Is that something that we could call a burden?I think it's something we can call a "money-saving-move"..

In Philippines,teachers are paid maximum of 1000 QAR/month.If you passed the board exam then u'r lucky to have that maximum wage. While those who are working in malls are paid 600 QAR/month, Home helpers are paid 100-300 QAR, Licensed Engineer are paid 1600 QAR and up. Provided that that salary will have deductions from the government. So i cant blame some of my fellowmen who come here & work..

These employers who call 700QAR-900QAR salary for their maids a burden sound unreasonable while they spend more for perfumes & make-up.

Yes Tinker on the large what you said is correct but they are also some who like to abuse the system here and the majority have to suffer for that.A completely un-related issue, our neighbours Western Expat had to fire their maid when they found out that she was almost 8 month pregnant. So that maid had to go back to here country.

Thanks for the Info fubar, did not read all the article, TFS

Tinker, Slaves or domestic workers what ever you want to call them are gonna be better here financially and that I guess is enough a reason for them to come here?

When this story was in The Peninsula on Monday, it was cost, not diversity, that was the basis for the new labour sources:Labor ministry plans new cell to recruit maids DOHA: In a bid to curb the mounting rates of housemaids’ recruitment in the country, the Ministry of Labor plans to coordinate with new countries and markets to recruit domestic maids. The Ministry of Labor and representatives of the Ministry of Interior and manpower recruitment agencies agreed in a joint meeting to collaborate and exchange technical experiences with GCC countries to find the best way to recruit skilled manpower with cheaper rates. THE PENINSULA

Is it all about cheaper pay for these maids or is it about choice and breaking the monoply of some countries that send domestic works in their thousands to the middleast?

fubar, I agree with you!

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Saudi tried to get cheaper maids and found that they had much lower tolerance levels and left very quickly.  

If these Qatari families are so poor that they can't afford a maid from the Philippines or Sri Lanka, and have to settle for a maid from Myanmar, perhaps they can't afford a maid at all?How about cleaning your own toilet, like everyone else in the world?Toughen up, princesses.

As far as I am aware most of the expats here especially those familes where both the husband and wife are working, have housemaids then why are they specifying that it is only for Qatari households. Does this mean that only the Qataris can employee housemaids from these countries whereas the expats have to employee the Srilankans and Indonesians.

Local Employers can reduce their financial burden on domestic workers? How much will they reduce? 100 riyals or 200 riyals per month? It is not even a portion of money they are spending on a daily basis on food.

"for Qatari households from a new set of countries" explains a lot about a nations mindset!

Saudi tried the same thing and failed. You can only lower salaries so much.

“would maintain balance in the market and reduce the financial burden on the local employers”

What traditional sources of slaves... err... I mean domestic workers have become too expensive?