Govt directive to agencies

TALHA BIN HABIB | Published: December 21, 2019 22:31:03

Don't recruit women workers on false docs

The government will take stern action against recruiting agencies if they send female workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on false documents, said an official.
In a circular issued on December 10 last, the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment gave a 12-point mandatory directive to the recruiting agencies in a bid to ensure safety and security of women workers abroad.
"We have issued 12-point directives that the recruiting agencies must follow to ensure safety of women migrant workers in the KSA," said a joint secretary of the ministry, who is also involved in the process.
The government has taken initiatives to stop the continuing trend of women workers returning from abroad, he told the FE.
Over the past few years, around 10,000 female workers came back home from the Middle East, especially the KSA, because of workplace harassment, mental and physical torture and denial of salaries.
As per the directives the ministry has issued, the recruiting agencies must ensure that women workers go through medical test and get proper training before sending them to KSA.
They (recruiting agencies) must not temper the ages of women workers.
They must provide adequate information about women workers, including NID (national identity) and mobile numbers, name of the recruiting agency to the Women Workers' Protection Cell under the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
The recruiting agency also must provide smart phones to women workers before their departure for the KSA.
The ministry official said that the workers must complete a 30-day residential training before leaving for the KSA.
The 'vigilance taskforce' formed by the ministry concerned and the recruiting agencies must submit reports on the process of sending female workers abroad twice a month to the secretary of the ministry, he said.
Besides, the taskforce must also submit reports on the condition of woman workers who have already been working in the KSA -- such as working environment and other factors -- by 15 of every month to the secretary of the ministry and the Women Workers' Protection Cell of BMET.
A director of a leading recruiting agency told the FE that there are a lot of scopes for sending women workers abroad.
He said his company had sent many female workers to the KSA, but they did not return before the expiry of their contract, as they did not face any sort of problems there.
He, however, admitted that some women could not adjust with the environment there (KSA) due to lack of proper training, which is a reason behind their coming back home.
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