Arafat Ara

The government has proposed that Saudi Arabia introduce residential facilities for women domestic helps working in the Gulf country, officials said.

Dormitory will help reduce the exploitation of maids as they will reside outside the employers' houses, they said.

"We've recently made this proposal at a joint working committee meeting held in Riyadh," said joint secretary of the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry Mizanur Rahman.

The Saudi authorities have considered the proposal sincerely, he added.

If the housemaids could spend their night in the dormitories with other co-workers, they would feel safe and happy, the official said.

Migrant rights activists said dormitory will be the best option to reduce sexual and physical assaults as women will not stay in their employers' houses.

But other abuse such as denial of wages, excessive work, and food problem will not go away with the residential system.

Bangladesh has to go for strong monitoring process and more negotiations with its Saudi counterpart to address such problems, said Shakirul Islam, chair of Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP).

"Bangladesh embassy should be made more accountable for this," he added.

Apart from this move, the expatriates' welfare ministry has strict selection criteria for women migrant workers, said Aminul Islam, an additional secretary.

Under the process, he said they follow up to the aspirant domestic workers after completion of their 30-day mandatory training, he said.

Physical fitness, reading and writing skills are the primary requirement for aspirant maids to be selected for going to Saudi Arabia, he added.

About 1,500 women domestic helps have returned home after abuse and exploitation since January this year, according to returnee workers and rights activists.

Even the number could be as high as 5,000 who have returned home in the last three years, officials said.

On return home, they narrated their terrible experiences in the hands of Saudi employers including sexual abuse, torture, non-payment of wages and over work. They also said that they were also given insufficient food.

Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia signed a deal on sending female workers in early 2015. Since then the oil-rich country has hired more than 0.2 million workers.

Bangladeshi women are working mainly in six countries including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon and Mauritius.

Since 1991, about 0.75 million women went abroad with jobs, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) data.