Sri Lankan maids to get a pay hike from Jan.

Sri Lankan housemaids in the UAE will have to be paid a minimum salary of Dh825 per month from January 1, 2008.

Officials from the Sri Lankan Consulate in Dubai yesterday told Khaleej Times that the Sri Lankan missions have notified recruiting agents of the revised minimum wages.

The Sri Lankan government has revised the minimum wages of housemaids in the entire Gulf. While Dh825 has been set for the UAE, the wages in other countries in the Middle East have been set according to their respective per capita income.

Sri Lankan Consul-General Wasantha Senanayake said, “We have sent a circular to all the agents this week stating that any new contract drawn for housemaids from January 1 will have a minimum wage of Dh825 vis-a-vis the existing Dh600. All employers will have to pay Sri Lankan housemaids this revised amount.”

This decision comes in the wake of the visit by Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, Dr Keheliya Rambukwella, to Dubai in October, when he told reporters that the government was considering increasing the wages.

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