By Francis A. Clifford Cardozo
(Arab Times) — KUWAIT CITY : Starting Aug 11, the Kuwaiti authorities stopped issuing all types of visas to Ethiopian nationals after three Ethiopian maids recently tested HIV positive, says Hashem Majed, the Managing Director of Al-Huqooq International Company. Majed told the Arab Times that the maids were newly recruited and expressed surprise as to how the three maids had cleared the medical tests in their home country. He went on to add that the Kuwait government should not mete out ‘collective punishment’ to all Ethiopians, instead the Kuwait embassy in Ethiopia should get to the bottom of the matter, even as he called on the embassy to check the antecedents of the medical centers in Ethiopia, which cleared the three maids.
Majed noted that the three infected workers have been deported from the country. Sources said that the two of the three maids were housed at the Khaitan Shelter before they were deported. ‘The Kuwaiti embassy should conduct a thorough investigation to ascertain whether any ill-practices were involved in the matter. I believe the ban is temporary in nature,’ he added. Al-Huqooq International Company has been offering legal assistance to distressed workers and has helped in repatriating thousands of stranded workers of various nationalities. Until a few days ago, about 1,000 Ethiopian maids were being recruited on a monthly basis and the ban is likely to create a serious vacuum in the domestic sector, especially after Sri Lanka decided to cut the number of maids to the Middle East over alleged mistreatment, he added.
‘In the run-up to Ramadan, the demand for domestic helpers sees a rise. The government should now make alternate arrangements to overcome the shortage of workers,’ he added. According to Majed, there are some 14,000 Ethiopians in Kuwait, many of whom work in the domestic sector. He added that the recruitment fee for an Ethiopian maid is around KD 380 and the fee is lower compared to Filipino and Indonesia maids whose recruitment fees come to over KD 500 each. He added that the demand for Nepali maids is expected to increase as the recruitment fee (KD 320) is the lowest.