Domestic workers from Ethiopia to return soon

Muscat: Efforts are underway to lift the ban on recruiting domestic workers from the African nation of Ethiopia.

Officials representing the Ministries of Manpower both in Oman and Ethiopia discussed the issue of bringing domestic workers from the African nation recently.

According to an official statement from the Ministry of Manpower, "A

memorandum of understanding in this regard was signed between the two sides for cooperation, which will contribute to facilitating the movement of the workforce and preserving their rights."

The number of Ethiopian expatriates in Oman has declined steadily over the past few years following a ban on their recruitment.

There were 24,000 Ethiopian workers in 2015, which dropped to around 19,000, 17,000 and 10,833 in the subsequent years, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Currently, most of the African domestic workers are Uganda and as of November 2019, their numbers stood at 21,976.