Saudi Arabia’s authorities on Tuesday, January 17, confirmed the implementation of a labour recruitment fee cap of Ksh358,630 for domestic workers from Kenya.
The government of Saudi Arabia noted that the implementation of the fee cap was part of the efforts to stabilise the labour market.
Additionally, the ministry stated that the move would regulate recruitment fees and ensure quality service provision.
"The Ministry of Human Resources is keen to implement follow-up to ensure high quality of the service," the ministry's spokesperson Saad Al Hamad stated.
Recruitment brokerage agencies were obligated to abide by the fee limits set by the ministry for hiring domestic workers.
Failure to abide by the set rules, the labour authorities stated that the recruitment offices would be shut down.
Additionally, the ministry set up the Musaned domestic labour programme to offer more information to domestic workers in the Kingdom.
“Musaned will handle matters surrounding visa issuance, recruitment requests, and contact relations between employers and workers,” Hamad added.
The Musaned will also help regulate and automate the recruitment process including issuing customer access to all recruitment offices in the kingdom and picking the most suitable office.
“The ministry stresses the necessity of contracting via the Musaned, being the official platform in the recruitment sector and through which everyone’s rights are safeguarded.”
“Selection of the recruitment offices depends on a host of factors including prices, and feedback from previous clients,” Hamand explained.
Other nations affected by the cap include Uganda, Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
The development came in the wake of rising cases of mistreatment of Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.
One such case was that of Diana Chepkemoi, whose deplorable state caught the attention of Kenyans, after she was repatriated.
In before and after photos shared on social media on Thursday, January 12, Kenyans were amazed at how Chepkemoi's health had greatly improved.
Chepkemoi had earlier gone viral over the torture she experienced in Saudi Arabia.
