Minister for Gender, Labour, and Social Development, Betty Amongi sets tough conditions before the resumption of labour externalisation to Jordan.
In 2019, Uganda suspended the deployment of Ugandans to Jordan due to refusal and failure to pay salary on time, denial of adequate and appropriate food, sleeping facilities and absence of shelters for domestic workers.
Others included; time off, appropriate care during extreme weather, allegations of verbal, physical and sexual abuse, confiscation of travel documents, working in multiple houses, confinement in houses, forceful renewal of contracts which leads to overstays and others.
On her mission here is a follow up to the implementation of the Bilateral Labour Agreement signed between the two friendly countries on 8th November 2016, and automatically renewed, Amongi since the signing of the labour agreements the Joint Technical Committee was never constituted, and therefore there was never any sitting to review how the implementation is progressing, much as was stipulated in the memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
She said this limited the continuous monitoring and evaluation of the MoU, to ensure that the agreements so signed are on track, or the necessary corrective measures are taken in time.
“When we met the Secretary General at the Ministry of Labour, we agreed to immediately constitute the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) as provided by the Bilateral Labour Agreement signed in 2016. This is the best mechanism to address the above issues before deployment of Ugandans to Jordan can resume. We call on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to name its side of the JTC,” she said
The renewed relationship between the Ugandan and Jordanian recruitment agencies must clearly spell out such terms and conditions for their relationship, including fees payable to Ugandan companies, terms of contracts for migrant workers, salaries and wages, among others.
She said some Jordanian recruitment companies are dealing with unlicensed Ugandan companies yet we regularly supplied updated lists of Ugandan licensed companies. The workers who are recruited by illegal agencies are never trained and therefore fail to adjust to the work requirements.
A number of complaints continued to level about the breaches of contracts between RAA and UAERA members. That’s you owe Ugandan companies lots of money in unpaid fees. All unpaid wages should be settled;
She said the recruitment company should follow up to ensure that migrant workers should be provided with proper accommodation, especially the cold winter or hot summer, like clothing air conditioning or heating;
Amongi said the Ugandan migrant worker should receive post-arrival training, especially on occupational safety and health to avoid incidences of injury through exposure to corrosive substances, especially detergents.
Recruitment companies and employers should provide adequate health insurance to all migrant workers in the event of sickness, injury or death.
Gov’t sets tough conditions before resumption of labour externalisation to Jordan
