KARACHI: Pakistan secured the second position among the countries that won the highest domestic worker recruitment contracts in Saudi Arabia during the month of December 2021 as the kingdom recorded an increase in the total recruitment contracts, the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development data shows.
The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s Musaned platform, specialized in the recruitment of domestic workers, recorded an increase of more than 15 percent in the total recruitment contracts of domestic workers during the fourth quarter of the year 2021.
The platform indicated that Bangladesh topped the list of countries with 12,000 contracts during the month of December, according to the statistics released by Musaned this week. Pakistan stood second with more than 11,000 contracts, while India was able to make around 11,000 contracts.
The increase in domestic worker contracts comes as the Saudi labor market continues to expand, mainly due to the launch of several mega projects under the Saudi Vision 2030, according to a Pakistani overseas employment promotor.
“We are receiving a lot of enquiries from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates with the restoration of routine life after the COVID-19,” Sarfraz Zahoor Cheema, former chairman of the Pakistan Overseas Employment Promotors Association, told Arab News on Sunday.
“We will see more export of manpower from Pakistan during the current and next years to various sectors of the kingdom.”
Cheema, however, said that Pakistani workers were not trained for domestic employment as compared to Bangladesh and particularly Philippines, which had developed it as an industry.
Saudi Arabia is utilizing Musaned to add several new countries to its list for the recruitment of domestic workers in 2022, according to Alson World, a communication strategies development firm that operates in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The kingdom is keen to have workers from countries that fit into Saudi families, based on epidemics, crime rate, language, education, expected recruitment cost, salaries and other criteria.
Recruitment contracts of domestic workers increased to 65,000 in October 2021 and more than 69,000 in November 2021. In December, the ceiling rose to 76,000 contracts, recording a steady increase by the end of 2021.
Based on the November figures, Philippines and Bangladesh secured 13,000 recruitment contracts, followed by Egypt with more than 9,000 contracts.
Philippines recorded the same figure in October, while the number from Bangladesh stood at more than 11,000 contracts. Uganda was ranked third with around 10,000 contracts.
Musaned aims to govern, automate and facilitate procedures for the recruitment of domestic workers and increase the level of protection of the rights of all parties by managing the contracting process between individuals and recruitment offices.
It also aims to the manage the relationship between Saudi recruitment offices and domestic worker recruitment firms in countries exporting manpower.
Pakistan secures second highest domestic worker contracts in Saudi Arabia in Dec. 2021
https://arab.news/9tr57
Pakistan secures second highest domestic worker contracts in Saudi Arabia in Dec. 2021
- Bangladesh topped the list of countries with 12,000 contracts in December 2021
- Pakistani overseas employment promotor hopes for more export of manpower this year
Police kill five militants, foil plan to block highway in Pakistan’s southwest
- The militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Mastung district of Balochistan
- Search, combing operations are underway to apprehend accomplices of militants who fled the scene
QUETTA: Pakistan’s counterterrorism police on Monday said they had killed five militants, who were planning to block the Quetta–Sibi highway and target security forces, in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province.
The operation took place in Mastung district when militants affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were planning to carry out “subversive activities” against security forces and the public, according to a CTD spokesperson.
CTD received credible intelligence that armed BLA militants had taken positions near Mastung’s Dasht area to block the Quetta–Sibi highway and target security forces and civilian traffic. Acting swiftly on the information, CTD teams moved into the area. The militants opened indiscriminate fire upon sighting CTD personnel.
“During the encounter, five unknown terrorists were shot dead, while other accomplices managed to flee, taking advantage of the rugged and mountainous terrain,” the CTD spokesperson said in a statement.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a separatist insurgency and witnessed a series of high-profile militant attacks last year. In March, the BLA hijacked a passenger train and the siege killed at least 60 people, while in May, a suicide bombing in Khuzdar killed several children on a school bus.
The separatists accuse the central government of stealing their resources to fund development in Punjab. The federal government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan, where China has been building a deep-sea port as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.
Officials found seven hand grenades, five sub-machine guns with live rounds and three motorcycles from the scene, according to the CTD statement.
“Search and combing operations are underway to apprehend the fleeing terrorists and dismantle the remaining network,” it read.
