Countless arrested for helping maids escape illegally

Law-enforcement agencies have arrested many people involved in luring housemaids to escape their sponsors.

Some 112 maids were prompted to run away from the households that employed them, says a senior Ministry of Interior official.

The Peninsula reports that during inspection drives, many foreign workers were caught last year who were found violating Law No. 4 of 2009 regulating entry, exit and stay of foreign workers in Qatar.

Many workers were repatriated home last year for different crimes, said Brigadier Nasser Al Sayed.

Director of Search and Follow-Up Department (S&FD) of the Ministry of Interior, Al Sayed said some 5,440 companies and 3,460 individual sponsors were blacklisted in 2015 for violating the provisions of Law No 4 of 2009.

They will not be allowed to hire fresh workers anymore as punishment, he said in remarks to Al Sharq. Their workers had lodged complaints against them and those complaints were verified.

Replying to questions about illegal visa trade, he said the crime has been on a decline. In 2013, for instance, 184 companies were caught which were accused of involvement in visa-related rackets.

As for individuals who were involved as brokers in the illicit visa trade, their number totalled 1,203 in 2013.

However, the number of errant companies went down to 120 the following year (in 2014) and the number of people found involved as brokers was a mere 75.

Last year, there was a drastic decline in both, the number of companies and individual brokers. 

The companies numbered only five and individuals barely seven last year.

“The figures show beyond doubt that the illegal visa trade is not a problem anymore,” said Al Sayed.

He said the victims of the illicit visa trade who land here and have no jobs and nowhere to go, are helped by his department to change sponsorship and find jobs.

“We usually send them to companies that have jobs and need workers,” said the Brigadier.

There is a special team at the S&FD that collects proof and builds cases against those involved in visa rackets, he said.

The suspects are referred to the Public Prosecution and then legal action is taken against them. 

The court decides the action to be taken.

Catching runaway workers is a coordinated work and the S7FD works in close cooperation with law-enforcement agencies like Lekhwiya and Al Faza to catch the violators (of Law No. 4.

Talking about the punishment prescribed for those who provide shelter to a runaway worker, the official said Article 51 says if proved guilty they must face a fine of up to QR50,000 or a jail term of up to three years.

However, if the person is found repeating the crime, he or she must face a jail term of a minimum of 15 days and a maximum of three years and fine ranging from QR20,000 to QR100,000 or both.