State-owned Al Durra Domestic Helpers Company of Kuwait has announced that it will be open for recruitment of Filipina maids from the Philippins again. Al-Durra Chairman Ali Al-Kandari cited that the recent crisis between the Philippines and Kuwait has already resolved, as shared in a report by the Kuwait Times.
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According to Kandari, recruitment will officially begin in the next few days, starting with limited openings only. The recruitment cost would be around KD 850 per Filipina maid.
Kuwait-owned Recruitment Agency Now Open to Hiring Filipina Maids
With the recruitment of domestic helpers to be rolled out once again, many Filipinos would again be given the opportunity to earn more overseas and to help out their families, as well as the Philippine economy in the process.
It can be recalled that the recruitment of Filipina maids has been suspended for about 10 months following the death of a Filipina maid at the hands of her foreign employers in Kuwait.
With this development, however, labour processes between the Philippines and Kuwait will once again be set into motion. There had been a time when newly-hired domestic helpers have been held for deployment in the Philippines until the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries has been dutifully enforced, explained POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia.
In Kuwait, recruitment costs have been a long-standing topic of discussion between Embassies and labour agencies because this is a very profitable business for all sides involved, except for the workers. There are more than 1 million domestic workers in Kuwait. Majority of these workers come from India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and a few other African nations. Recruitment agencies and middle-men typically charge sponsors between KD 600 to KD 1,600. It is also common for workers to pay a fee to their recruitment agencies back in their home countries.
In response to this issue, the government of Kuwait has established Al-Durra which aims to lower recruitment fees to ease the burden on employers. To this, the Philippine Embassy has responded that costs are more of a concern on the business side of things. They emphasized, however, that their focus is on the compliance of employers with embassy requirements as well as contractual obligations.