The dependency on domestic workers, especially live-in, is on the rise. But supply to meet this demand does not always flow through regular channels, and ethical recruitment considerations take a backseat to costs and convenience. The process designed by the recruitment agents can only be described as organised chaos. Organised enough for the employer and chaotic for the worker. In the UAE particularly, the ease with which visit or tourist visas can be converted to work visas creates a particularly muddy market for domestic work.  These issues persist despite government-affiliated Tadbeer service centres intended to standardize domestic worker employment.

{...........} The closure of private agencies that bring in domestic workers on visit visas may address some magnitude of the problem. But without vigilance, illicit recruitment is only likely to adapt to new circumstances, especially if converting visit visas to work visas remains a simple procedure. It is also important to underscore that the ease of acquiring visit visas to the UAE has the potential to be exploited by illegal recruiters, who can use the country as a hub from which to deploy people to other GCC states.