KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Muhammad Al-Aiban has issued a decision setting the fees for recruiting domestic workers. In a press statement, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry confirmed that in coordination with the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) and in line with the recommendations of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Al-Aiban issued a decision amending Article One of Ministerial Resolution No. 103/2022; specifying the maximum cost of recruiting domestic workers, including the travel ticket.

The statement added: “This decision will enable citizens to collect their full entitlements including the ticket price, in the event of a dispute arising with recruitment offices if the domestic worker refuses to complete the contract period with the employer.” The decision sets the maximum fee for hiring domestic workers from Asian countries at KD750 (including the ticket), KD575 for domestic workers from African countries, and KD350 for individuals holding a special passport provided by the sponsor. Meanwhile, official statistics from the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) revealed that the total number of registered domestic workers in mid-2023 reached 811,307. India has the highest number of registered domestic workers with 361,222 (44.5 percent of the total); followed by the Philippines in second place with 201,110 (24.8 percent); Sri Lanka is third with 102,685 (12.6 percent); Bangladesh is fourth with 85,989 (10.6 percent); Nepal is fifth with 25,554 (3.1 percent); Ethiopia is sixth with 11,684 (1.4 percent); Benin is seventh with 5,105 (0.6 percent); Indonesia is eighth with 2,103 (0.3 percent; Mali is ninth with 1,901 (0.2 percent) and Madagascar is 10th with 1,838 (0.2 percent). It added that 11,616 individuals of other nationalities constitute 1.4 percent of the total domestic worker population.

By Najeh Bilal
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff