Kyrgyz maids may end shortage of domestics

The Labor Ministry on Monday disclosed plans to recruit housemaids from Kyrgyzstan to meet the severe shortage in the Kingdom. “We are in talks with officials of some former Soviet republics that export housemaids,” said Ahmed Al-Fehaid, deputy minister for international affairs.
He said the number of maid exporting countries is very limited, and that most of them are from Asia and former Soviet republics. “Some Arab countries export maids when their economy becomes weak and stop it when the economy becomes strong,” he said. However, Al-Fehaid reiterated that Saudi Arabia prefers maids from Arab countries if they are ready to export them fulfilling the ministry’s conditions.
Al-Fehaid said there is no plan to send away the existing Ethiopian maids from the Kingdom. “We have stopped recruitment of house servants from three countries: Indonesia, Kenya and Ethiopia. At the same time, it is open from all other countries.”
Saudi Arabia has been facing extreme shortage of domestics, especially during Ramadan.