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The cost of recruiting housemaids is soaring ahead of Ramadan because of the criminal activity of some brokers and citizens, according to a report in a local newspaper.

The illegal activities include hiring of housemaids as daily wage workers, which is not allowed under current legislation. The collusion sees maids from Asia working for SR150 to SR200 a day and those from Africa for SR100 to SR120, said citizens in the Eastern Province.

In addition, some offices have raised the cost of hiring from SR16,000 to SR20,000 for Kenyan workers, and SR16,000 to SR30,000 for Sri Lankans and Filipinos, they said.

Several citizens also claim that some recruiting offices do not deliver maids to citizens who have hired them, and then hire them out for as much as SR6,000 for the entire month of Ramadan with the help of brokers.

Mohammad Al-Mohammadi, chairman of the recruitment committee at the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the dearth of housemaids from Indonesia and some Asian countries has forced many Saudi families to look for alternative help from African countries.

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