Cabinet contemplates banning labour export to Middle East
Cabinet has contemplated placing a total ban on labour export, particularly to the Middle East countries.
According to the cabinet spokesperson Chris Baryomunsi, the decision followed several reports of untold suffering that Ugandans undergo while working abroad, with the Middle East being pointed out.
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While addressing the media about cabinet decisions taken this week, Baryomunsi said that the president had directed Betty Amongi, who is the minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development to present a comprehensive paper on externalisation of labour in Uganda.
Amongi on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 met with labour export sector players at Hotel Africana and said that cabinet is hell-bent on suspending labour externalisation unless they can prove to the president that suffering of Ugandans abroad will end.
“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 said.
Amongi also noted that the cabinet is concerned about the reports that some Ugandans have lost some of their body organs like kidneys while in the Middle East.
She said that the cabinet was divided on this issue as the majority of the cabinet ministers called for a total ban of labour export in the country, while others proposed that the sector should be temporarily suspended as the government puts in place stringent measures to address the key concerns.
“Some said that we should ban the industry, some proposed that let us place a ban, but only for house maids.. others said that let us hold for sometime,” Amongi said while briefed labour export companies players.
A report from the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA) indicated that approximately 350,000 Ugandans work in the Middle East doing both domestic and non-domestic jobs.
The number has been tipped to keep on increasing.
According to UAERA, if the labour export is banned, it would trigger human trafficking and its associated risks due to desperation caused by surging levels of un employment in Uganda.
