UNB, Dhaka :The refusal by many Saudi companies to hire Bangladeshi female workers has complicated the recruitment of housemaids, leading to a black market and a sharp rise in recruitment costs.Most Bangladeshi women are not ready to work in Saudi Arabia as they cannot cope with Saudi customs and traditions while others give a lukewarm response because the recruitment of male workers from the country has halted.”The delay in the expected arrival of 500,000 Bangladeshi housemaids has complicated the situation with middlemen in both countries increasing charges,” The Saudi Gazette reported on Monday quoting one recruitment executive said.”Only 2,000 Bangladeshi maids have arrived in the Kingdom since the resumption of recruitment from the country,” the executive was quoted as saying.Headlined ‘Maid recruitment hits roadblocks’, the report said quoting Shamsul-Haq, owner of a manpower export office in Dhaka, that the recruitment process is delayed as a result of the tepid response of Bangladeshi women to work in the Kingdom because its “rigid customs and traditions”.He said the recruitment charges went up to $3,500 because of attempts by middlemen to exploit the current situation. “Most Bangladeshi maids who have arrived in the Kingdom work for big companies, not individual Saudis.Abu Faisal, owner of a recruitment firm in the Kingdom, said brokers appeared due to the delays in recruitment from Bangladesh. As a result, the costs of recruitment rose to $3,500 (SR13,000) from $1,000 (SR3,750), the fee set by the Saudi Labor Ministry. The agreement to recruit one male worker for every three female workers is another factor that complicated the issue because many Saudi companies are now reluctant about the import of workers from Bangladesh.
