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More Filipino housemaids will be deployed to Qatar in the coming months as the number of contracts being processed by the Philippine Overseas Labour Office in Doha (POLO) has increased five times over the past few weeks, labour attache Leopoldo De Jesus has said. |
From an average of 15 contracts per day, POLO now receives at least 70 to 75 contracts of housemaids for verification and processing. These workers have been recruited by Qatari families who are willing to pay the minimum $400 monthly salary set by the Philippine government for domestic workers.
“The number is increasing but it is not huge compared with the figures before when housemaids were also supplied to expatriate families,” said De Jesus.
Local Arabic daily Arrayah, quoting sources in the labour recruitment offices, had reported recently that the General Directorate of Border, Passports and Expatriate Affairs has started granting visas to domestic workers from the Philippines.
The newspaper also reported that the decision to grant visas “was taken after the issue of visas for Indonesian and Ethiopian housemaids was stopped”.
The labour attaché noted that once housemaids passed the medical test in the Philippines and their contracts have been verified by POLO, deployment follows.
“About 85% of the contracts that we process have been successful, “this means that they already have a sponsor and visa”, he said. “Only those who failed the medical test get rejected.”
He added that many local recruitment agencies have been applying for job orders to supply the huge demand.
The number of housemaids fell from about 35,000 in 2012 to an estimated 30,000 in 2013, as a result of certain restrictions in the issue of visas for Filipinos, according to ambassador Crescente Relacion.
However, the demand for various categories of workers and professionals has increased early this year.
Citing expansion projects of hospitals, clinics and other health care institutions, De Jesus said many nurses, doctors and other medical personnel are being recruited back home.
The start of big construction projects such as the Doha Metro Rail and Hamad International Airport’s opening has also prompted companies to hire more engineers, safety personnel and labour workers from different countries including the Philippines.
POLO also noted many eateries, restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques in malls and hotels have been hiring Filipino waitresses, baristas, sales ladies and marketing staff.
