Government has finally admitted that it has not done enough in areas of ensuring that migrant workers do not suffer at the hands of their tyrant employers abroad, especially in Middle East Countries.
Amb. Abbey Walusimbi, the Special Presidential Advisor on Diaspora Affairs, while opening the high-level diaspora and labor externalization symposium at the Office of the President yesterday said that admitted there isn’t proper monitoring for Ugandans in the diaspora but noted that this will soon be rectified.
“The president through his office of the diaspora affairs has intervened in that matter. The monitoring exercise had a problem but the President’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Gender have resolved to start the monitoring as a government. We can’t neglect our children who are employed in the Middle East,” he said
Walusimbi was responding to the Chairperson of the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agency (UAERA) Baker Akantambira who blamed the government for not doing enough to protect Ugandans working from abroad.
Akantambira accused the government of neglecting its role of monitoring the welfare of Ugandans abroad, leading to their suffering.
He said that the government has abrogated its role of monitoring the welfare of its citizens abroad and this has in turn left them with no one to superintendent over them.
“There is no integrated framework for the monitoring of the welfare of migrant workers. We have seen some countries like the Philippines have put in place a monitoring mechanism for their migrant workers and is funded and taken care of by government but the same is not the case for Uganda,” he said
“However, the Ugandan government has shifted this burden to individual companies yet this is not possible,” he added
Akantambira said that labor export companies help Ugandans get jobs abroad, but it’s the responsibility of the government to ensure their safety since they (companies) can’t do that due to a lack of enough capacity.
Daparrot understands that the ministry of foreign affairs created a special unit of External Labour Monitoring Unit (ELM) specialized to monitor all migrant workers abroad and ensure that they are not suffering.
“You are well aware that a director of a company in Uganda cannot do much outside Uganda. The most he can do is make a telephone call to find out the well-being of the person they externalized. The legal framework in that country is a problem. A girl is in a house suffering, what can you do as a director of a company here in Uganda to save her? The monitoring framework should be national and the government should do this.”
In response, Walusimbi said that the current bilateral agreements between Uganda and Middle East Countries do not protect Ugandans but noted that it will be rectified when it is renewed in December.
“It is true this bilateral agreement doesn’t favor our people. For example, it stipulates that a Ugandan migrant worker should be allowed to have their phone but is silent on the punishment for the employer who violates this right. These are some of the things we shall rectify while renewing the agreement,” he said.
Akantambira also blamed the government for the lack of bilateral agreements with all countries where Ugandans are working, a situation they said is partly responsible for the plight of Ugandans in the Middle East.
“Ugandans are already in Oman, Kuwait, UAE, and many other countries but our government doesn’t have bilateral agreements with these countries. This means Ugandans are working under unclear circumstances,” he said
This he said means follow-up and monitoring of the employer’s actions are very difficult.
“The bilaterals should be fixed as soon as yesterday. Why does it take many years for a government to government to fix a bilateral? Akantambira noted. If some Ugandans are not tracked well, especially in countries that don’t have bilateral, they can be a security risk. Don’t be surprised a youth who was recruited as a driver going to UAE ends up in a neighboring country joining the negative forces.”
In part 2 of our Series of the Growing Dark Side of Export Labour on Saturday, we shall bring You a Full analysis of What these developments leave Migrant Workers and the details of the special Labour Desk at Ministry of Foreign Affairs
