Numerous maid agencies shut down in UAE

Our Correspondent

As many as 250 private recruitment firms catering to the hiring of domestic workers have been shut down across the UAE. The closures were implemented by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) as part of an effort to streamline the system. The closed recruitment centres have been replaced by 54 Tadbeer centres, which handle all recruitment processes for domestic workers like maids and nannies.
Nasser bin Thani Al Hameli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisaton, told the Federal National Council that the closures were carried out after the licences of many agencies had expired. Another 10 private offices currently operating will be closed by the end of March 2021.
The Minister said action has been taken against 99 recruitment offices that had violated the closure order.
Al Hameli said that maid recruitment processes will be done only through Tadbeer centres from March 2021, in accordance with a 2017 rule to ensure the rights of domestic workers and employers in the country.
The MoHRE had stopped renewing licences for private domestic worker recruitment offices in 2017. The first Tadbeer centres were opened in the UAE in 2018. Tadbeer offices ensure that a contract with an employer is completed, and also guarantees domestic workers salaries on time. They also offer a variety of recruitment packages to suit the needs of employers.
The UAE is also trying to reduce the recruitment costs for domestic workers, based on agreements with 10 countries that supply the greatest number of domestic workers to the UAE.
Private recruitment agencies often brought workers to the UAE on tourist visas and illegally sent them to work with households. This ‘black market’ did not protect the rights of employers or maids. Domestic workers recruited thus were not trained for the job, and often quit before their contracts ended.
Indian missions and social workers often come to the rescue of hapless women brought in by unscrupulous agents, who charge them hefty fees for visa and related documents, and send them on undesirable jobs after seizing their passports.
In December 2020, 12 housemaids duped by fake job agents were rescued by Indian Association – Ajman and the Indian Consulate in Dubai and sent back to India. Most of the women were in the UAE on one to three-month visit visas. They were kept in homes on a trial basis or taken to recruitment agencies for hiring. Indian officials advise jobs seekers to come through the Indian government’s e-migrate channel to avoid being duped or harassed.
According to a new rule, a sponsor must earn a minimum of Dh25,000 in order to have the maid on his visa and also produce his marriage certificate (bachelors cannot hire female workers), electricity bill etc. Previously, an expatriate holding a residence visa in the UAE could obtain a visa for a domestic worker if he had a salary not less than Dh6,000 per month or a monthly salary of Dh5,000 with accommodation.
But Tadbeer centres offer various packages for citizens and residents, irrespective of their salaries and bank balance. Under one package, a maid can be hired for Dh3,500 monthly for the first five months, and if the employer continues with the same maid, the cost comes down from the sixth month to Dh2,420 for an African maid, and Dh2,800 for an Indian maid.