Authorities from the Domestic Labour Department have arrested an Ethiopian national who speaks the Kuwait dialect fluently, for allegedly posting an advertisement on Instagram regarding the availability of Asian and African housemaids for recruitment, with fees ranging from 15 KD to 250 KD on a daily or monthly basis, as shared in a report by the Arab Times Online.

ALSO READ: Al-Durra Set to Open Recruitment of Maids from the Philippines

Authorities were able to confiscate KD 3,000 from the foreign national who apparently rents a car amounting to KD 30 a day, and possesses an expensive watch. The apprehension was carried out after the department saw the advertisement on Instagram.

Expat Arrested for Trafficking Maids, Posting Ads on Instagram

The authorities got in touch with the suspect by telephone included on the ad shared via Instagram, and deployed an undercover agent to hire a housemaid for KD 250 per month. The agent was able to meet the Ethiopian national described above.

Upon investigation, the Ethiopian national revealed that he is trafficking in housemaids and he also convinces them to abscond from their employers to hire them in return with 50 percent commission of the contract value.

Upon the suspect’s arrest, the housemaids involved in the operations were referred to the Administrative Deportation Department and their names blacklisted for absconding from their employers and violating contract laws in the country.

Such news only reinforces why countries like Kuwait are bent in regulating their population and immigration policies.

This scheme, while seemingly lucrative from the outside, is a clear example of how people can take advantage of others through the use of money at the expense of those who simply want to do clean business (households) and those who are simply looking for work.

For our OFWs, the best course of action in this situation is to coordinate and verify with authorities and to never engage in a business which does not have any legal authorization, especially in a foreign country as this could only put you at an even more difficult situation in the end.