One of the conditions that a Saudi woman insists on when recruiting and hiring a housemaid is that the maid not be attractive.

“There is every chance that a pretty maid will be turned down by a Saudi woman while an ugly one will readily get her approval,” said one Saudi recruiter.

Housemaids from Morocco and Chile are the ones most objected to by Saudi wives, according to the Labor Ministry’s website, Musaned, which deals with domestic workers.

Chileans can be hired as as housemaids, drivers, male servants, governesses and home nurses (both male and female). Saudi women justify their reluctance to recruit Chileans by saying that, unlike Sri Lankans, Filipinos, Indonesians or Indians, the South Americans do not have the patience to perform all the household chores.

Some other Saudi women fear that pretty maids will break up their family and there are plenty of stories of disruption of family life with the arrival of beautiful Chilean maids. It is for the same reason that they often refuse Moroccan housemaids.

Ali Al-Amri, who runs a recruitment firm, said he is sometimes surprised by the demands of some Saudi housewives when they request maids from Morocco or Chile; the housewives often ask that the maid not be good looking. They also ask for the photographs of the maids to ensure that she does not have a pleasing look.

It takes six months to recruit a Chilean worker at a cost of SR22,000, Al-Amri said.

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