ETHIOPIA has reportedly stopped sending domestic workers to Gulf countries, including Bahrain, for the last two months, it has emerged.
There is no apparent reason for the temporary ban, which was enforced in November, and, according to the Bahrain Association of Recruitment Agencies, authorities in Ethiopia are in discussions to review and lift it.
Association president Aqeel Al Mahari told the GDN that the ban has prompted many households to recruit housemaids from other African countries such as Kenya, Uganda and Ghana.
“It’s almost two months now since Ethiopia stopped sending domestic workers to Bahrain and other Gulf countries,” said Mr Al Mahari.
“There is no ban on recruitment from Bahrain’s side, but this is a decision taken by Ethiopian authorities which is currently being reviewed.”
According to reports in regional newspapers last month, the UAE government confirmed there was a temporary ban on domestic workers from the Ethiopian government’s side which is applicable to all GCC countries.
However, the ban does not cover skilled workers from Ethiopia being recruited in Gulf countries.
“There are about 93,000 domestic workers in Bahrain of which about 66,000 are females,” said Mr Al Mahari.
“Ethiopian housemaids are a popular choice among Bahraini households because they understand the culture and hiring them costs less compared with other nationalities.”
He explained that it costs around BD600, excluding air tickets, to hire a live-in Ethiopian housemaid, while the cost for recruiting a domestic worker from the Philippines could exceed BD1,200.
“Many families are looking for replacement because of this temporary ban by recruiting from Uganda, Kenya and Ghana,” he added.
Mr Al Mahari also revealed that the issue was being handled by Ethiopian authorities to lift the deployment ban on their nationals to work as housemaids in the Gulf.
“Bahrain is different from other Gulf countries because our people do not have any problems with other nationalities and live in harmony,” he stressed.
“Even if there is a dispute, I have personally visited the recruitment agencies or the workers to sort it out.”
There are a total of 103 registered recruitment agencies listed under the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).
“Previously there were some manpower agents who made under the table dealings to recruit workers from Ethiopia, but that back door for the black market has stopped,” added Mr Al Mahari.
Officials from the Ethiopian Consulate in Bahrain could not be reached for comment.
However, a senior government official confirmed to the GDN that they were not officially informed about the ban by Ethiopian authorities and that the news reached them from recruitment agencies operating in the country.
There are around 92,000 domestic workers in the country, which is about 15 per cent of the total expatriates.
The top three nationalities of domestic workers, according to LMRA statistics for the second quarter of last year, were Indians (21,567), Ethiopians (21,306) and Filipinos (20,316).
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