Stakeholders to discuss recruitment of domestic helpers

AMMAN – Representatives of domestic helpers’ agencies announced that a meeting with the government and health insurance companies will be held soon to “set the record straight” on bylaws governing the recruitment of domestic helpers, according to an informed source. 

Khaled Hseinat, president of the Domestic Helpers Recruitment Agencies Association, told The Jordan Times on Monday that the meeting would be a “culmination of the efforts” exerted by the association, the Labour Ministry and insurance companies in facilitating the process of bringing domestic helpers to work in Jordan. 

“We want to reduce the cost on citizens, while safeguarding the interests of the recruitment offices and insurance companies,” he explained, commending the Labour Ministry for agreeing to enact a new law for recruiting domestic helpers. 

The Jordan Times could not reach officials from the Labour Ministry to comment on the issue, despite several attempts to contact them.

Earlier this year, the association announced an open-ended work stoppage to protest against the unifying of work permits’ prices at JD400 for foreign workers in all sectors, but at JD500 for domestic helpers. 

The protest ended when the Labour Ministry promised to reconsider the decision, according to Hseinat. 

Domestic helpers constitute 64.6 per cent of all 76,473 female guest workers in Jordan, according to the Sisterhood Is Global Institute. 

At the end of last year, the largest number of domestic helpers in Jordan were from the Philippines (15,636), followed by Sri Lankans (3,742) and Indonesians (1,233).