For close to three weeks now, Ugandans seeking to work in the Gulf State have been blocked by the government, DaParrot exclusively Report.
Laban Joshua Musinguzi, the Ag. Head of the External Labour Monitoring Unit (ELM) and the Coordinator of the Parliamentary Forum for Labour, Decent Employment, and Productivity told DaParrot today that the halt is aimed at ensuring that migrant workers’ issues are handled so that their suffering is brought to an end.
“There has been a stoppage of people moving out. As I speak, migrant workers are not going out of the country for the past two to three weeks This will be resumed with various processes that have been suggested by Cabinet,”
He said Musinguzi said that over 20,000 people are awaiting clearance to be externalized but they can’t go because we are still putting the processes right.
This development comes amidst increasing cries by migrant workers especially housemaids who are reportedly tortured by their employers among others denying them their rights. Laban today met a section of disgruntled parents during the first Uganda Migrant Workers’ Voice Defenders and Parents Open Day Meeting, which was organized by the Migrant Workers’ Voice Network Association in Kampala.
The meeting was organized under the theme: of seeking opinions to understand the common challenges among Ugandan Migrant Workers abroad and possible ways of their mitigation from the parents’ wing.
During this meeting, parents told Musinguzi about the problems their children and relatives and going through in the Middle East (DaParrot will tomorrow Bring you some of the Cases).
Among these challenges included; salary denial, forced labor, sexual exploitation, and passport confiscation among others. In response, Laban not only issued some guidance but also promised to personally follow and ensure that they are sorted.
“ELM looks at basically the monitoring part and we are going to emphasize on the health part where we want to have a test before someone leaves,” he said
DaParrot saw a letter from the ministry of internal affairs that barred any migrant worker from traveling from Uganda, before having a thorough medical check.
This, according to the letter has been done to ensure that the issue of organ harvest is eliminated once and for all.
“Government is trying to do whatever it can like equipping the embassy with the staff but that comes with a Budget however there are synerials where we are issuing distress letters that even the person is in distress, they can always leave at their will, we are also discussing on the issue of having a return ticket for these migrant workers that are already set where in case one wants to come back, we don’t wait for ticket money,” Musinguzi said
“Compliance checks we did it with people like Ambassador Abbey Walusimbi, Hon Nakiwala, and other security agencies but we shall repeat again and cover all companies because we need to hear from them also,” he added
Speaking at the function, Kayonde Abdallah founding President of the Migrant Workers’ Voice Association said that they will continue to advocate and fight for the rights of migrant workers.
