Mariam Mwizza the Executive Director of Overseas Workers Voice Uganda (OWVU) an NGO that fights for the rights of migrant workers abroad especially those working in the Middle East has weighed on the government’s proposal of totally banning export Labour.
Last week, the Cabinet which considers putting a total ban on labour export to Middle East countries directed Hon. Betty Amongi the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development to come up with a comprehensive paper detailing the situation of Ugandans working in Middle East Countries.
This followed countless cries of Ugandans especially housemaids who are being subjected to all forms of violence including; sexual harassment, poor pay, salary denial, and physical and psychological torture, among others.
“To the Cabinet, the number one complaint is mistreatment, this year alone we have received 300 cases of mistreatment and the second is sexual harassment,” Amongi told labour Export players on Wednesday
A few days after this decision, a group of ex- Middle East Domestic workers gathered at Hotel Africana in Kampala and told the government to dire ban the labour export and see the implication that will come with it.
These told journalists that banning export labour is a bad move which should not even be thought about since it will have a huge negative consequence on the economy, and create insecurity among others.
These further argued that salaries have been increased from Shs750,000 in 2015 to Shs900,000 in 2022 due to the good working relation Uganda has with the Middle East governments so there is no need of banning labour export.
Activists Weigh in
In an exclusive interview with DaParrot on Saturday, Mwizza said that it is ashaming and a total disgrace to see a former migrant worker who has ever seen the situation how they are treated there, speaking in a reckless manner.
“All along we (Activists) have been accusing the government for turning a deaf ear to our pleas, now that it has come out to directly intervene you see such people speaking nonsense,” she said adding,
“I could expect such people to tell the government to temporarily suspend the labour export for some time and then review the policies because as an activist I would not support a full ban but our government should engage its Middle east counterparts and ensure that Ugandans work from conducive environments,” he said
Among the issues, Mwizza wants to be tackled immediately is the infamous Kafala system where which gives power to Middle East employers to confiscate passports and travel documents from migrant workers.
“I would like to see a situation where I can spend at least a month without hearing a phone call from a suffering migrant worker because now phone calls are like phone calls all about migrant workers’ woos,” she said
“Government should impose this ban wisely and monitor those migrant workers who are already there and see how all the anomalies can be solved so that by the time it is fully lifted when we hardly see cries of these girls,” she added.
Rayan Kibedi, the ED of Ample Heart Foundation and another activist agrees with the ban since it’s causing more harm than good,
“You can’t tell me that the few who are sufferings should be ignored because we have success stories,” he said
“Let our fellow Ugandans come home and we all work from here because we can create jobs and work simply here than people suffering. This will also encourage the government to create more jobs for Ugandans,” he added.
Kibedi however advises government to give labour export companies an ultimatum of three years because impromptu banning may turn disastrous.
“In those three years, the number of Ugandans being exported should be have reduced because in three years still the contracts of Uganda migrant workers will have expired and those who are there the situation will be good but if the situation worsens, the ban be implemented,” he said
Kibedi also lashed at fellow activists who have instead of bringing alternative views chosen to oppose the government’s first-ever direct intervention.
Ban’s Likely Impact on Employment, Incomes
If the government bans labour export once and for all as considered by the government the ex-domestic workers said would bring another big catastrophe to the country.
However, recent statistics from the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agency (UAERA) indicate that 350,000 Ugandans are working in the Middle East where all the contestation is coming from though the majority are youth.
Uganda currently according to the projection from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics has 43.2 million people of which 70% (30.2 million) are youth.
This indicates that less than 500,000 out of 30,200,000 Ugandan youths are working in Middle East Countries.
“And what is the essence of working yet you are being mistreated?” Mwizza wondered.
“I challenge a single Uganda Housemaid who worked in the Middle East to come and testify that he worked there and bought a plot, constructed a house and opened up a business of her own because from what I know they earn Shs900,000 monthly amounting to Shs21.6m for two years that’s if they pay you all months. Even when you save all, a moderate plot alone is beyond Shs10m, constructing around Shs15m, the money is done before you even finish the house,” she said adding,
“We want our government to negotiate for our housemaids, they do a lot of work, salaries should correspond why do Philippines doing the same job earn highly on the expense of our sisters,”
Thorough Consultations will solve the matter-Musinguzi
Agreeing with Mwizza, Joshua Laban Musinguzi, the Coordinator of Parliamentary Forum for Labour, decent Employment and Productivity said that all issues affecting migrant workers can be solved in a single Comprehensive paper that Minister Amongi will present to Cabinet should she thoroughly consult all stakeholders.
“The Ministry of Gender should consult all people in the labour export sector, activists, victims, beneficiaries and come up with a detailed comprehensive paper because this will help in guiding the Cabinet on how this issue should be tackled,” he said
“We have for example rolled out the Visits to borders where we are engaging youth on different issues, so I think we have vital information that is needed in this paper but should the gender ministry individualize the paper, you will continue to hear cries because we need to reach down to the grassroots level,” he said
Museveni’s Stand on Labour Exportation
On several occasions, President Museveni has openly condemned the practice of exporting Ugandans to work in Middle East countries as housemaid.
In April told a congregation in Kampala that the rising trend of Ugandan youths leaving the country to work as housemaids and causal labourers in the Middle East is wrong and temporary.
Museveni said that the growing externalization of Ugandan labour was not what he and the NRM government envisaged while taking power.
“There are countries which externalize their children such as the Philippines. But we also have other countries like South Korea which don’t… You don’t see them all over the place, and this is the vision of the NRM,” he said.
As of today, there are 216 fully registered and Licenced labour export companies in Uganda by both the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) and the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agency (UAERA). Government has since banned registration of any new labour export company.
The government through the Internal affairs ministry (MIA) in June last year banned 8 labour recruitment agencies.
These included; Middle East Consultants located at Tank Hill Road in Muyenga, Rider Uganda Ltd located in Bukoto, Al-Said Agency Ltd based in Kibuye along Salama road and Eagle Supervision Ltd situated at Mengo.
Others were; Forbes Enterprises Ltd based in Kiwatule, Top-Notch Recruitment Services, Fly International Jobs and Sahara Recruitment Agency Ltd based in Lubaga.
Agnes Igoye, the deputy coordinator of anti-human trafficking at the MIA ministry of internal affairs told reporters then that the companies had had several complaints lodged against them by victims or relatives of victims who were suffering in foreign countries.
She said they were able to assess complaints levied against the affected companies with the help of other ministries, Gender, Foreign Affairs and security agencies, External Security Organisation-ESO and Internal Security Organisation-ISO and the Immigration department.
The government said the banned companies had numerous cases of forgeries, human rights violations, smuggling and suffering of Ugandans taken to serve as domestic workers in countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman and UAE.
Other companies that have severally had issues with labour exports are Security Link where numerous girls have complained against it and Premier Recruitment Agencies which in lockdown reportedly forged passports for its recruits and intercepted them at Entebbe International Airport.
There ban however led to numerous sufferings among Ugandans who had gone through them since there was no one who could help them to return in case of torture.
Kyadondo East MP Muwada Nkunyinji on July 1, 2021, petitioned the Speaker over the plight of these Ugandans who among others had been arrested without trials, and mistreated among other atrocities.
“These companies had confiscated passports, travel and other financial details of many Ugandans in their offices in those countries upon arrival and so our Nationals these companies had taken for jobs abroad cant now trace them to claim their passports and other travel documents,” read part of the Letter.
According to Nkunyinji, Ugandans had become illegal immigrants for lack of identification.
Mwizza who concurred with Nkunyinji in today’s interview said that she received a lot of calls from suffering Ugandans at that time a situation she does not wish to see again.
“The ban should be done after analyzing everything and ensuring that no one will be affected in the first place,” she said
Contribution of Middle East Migrant Workers to Uganda
Mwizza says that each migrant worker in addition to the taxes they pay charged $30 monthly meant to protect them and ensure their safety.
“This money is just wasted and eaten by these people, because even the few cases that we get, we still see ourselves, activists, sympathizers and parents coming out to help,” she said.
This is an addition to the $1.2Bn that is remitted by the government from external labour in form of taxes.
