The Member of Parliament for Kira Municipality, Ibrahim Ssemujju, has called for the establishment of an Evacuation Fund, whose funds will be used by government to evacuate migrant workers who face inhumane mistreatment while employed abroad, warning that a total ban on labour exportation would create a crisis given the high unemployment rates in Uganda.
Ssemujju argued that people, who go to work as maids, don’t go to work in companies where there are standards, and instead, these workers are treated according to the temper and conduct in a particular home.
“The preliminary issues that we can deal with is the quick evacuation and let us be present in these areas where they are, we have no consulate or embassy in Oman. Saudi Arabia is such a vast country, when the girls are abused in Jeddah, it takes them 12 hours to go to Riyadh by bus.
The amount we are receiving from these girls as per figures given by this report, if we look at the economy, is more than the money we get from all crops exported including coffee,” said Ssemujju.
Ssemujju made the remarks on Wednesday, 31 January 2024 during the consideration of the report of the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development on a petition by Elivanson Nabatanzi who petitioned Parliament in May 2022, demanding the return of her daughter who was taken by Prime Linkages Limited to work as a house help in Saudi Arabia.
Ssemujju added: “I think Parliament is devoting so much time discussing this issue emotionally. Until we have stopped the vulnerabilities forcing girls to go and work as maids, there can’t be standards including the recruitment agencies, you are just blaming them for nothing, each home treats people differently, there are those who are going to abuse them, there are those who are going to beat them.”
Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi urged MPs to follow the grotesque stories that are being told by the external labour workers that are being exposed on social media in order to understand the ordeal these workers go through while working abroad.
“This very week, there has been a trending hashtag on social media, #labourexportexhibitionUG and for you who are twitter friendly, find time and go there, of girls that have gone through grotesque ordeals some eventually made it through the country and are undergoing treatment, it will just give you a picture of what is happening,” he said.
Ssenyonyi also queried the proposal by the Government to establish a phone application through which these workers can report cases of inhumane treatment, noting that although the innovation is commendable, it isn’t practical given reports that some employers confiscate phones and passports from these workers.
“The Minister talked about an app, that is okay, but when these girls report to these countries, their travel documents are confiscated, they don’t have passports, identity cards and they have no phone, they are literally slaves, so now that you are talking of an app, how are they meant to access it? We really need to be more practical about these issues. An app is a good thing, for those that can eventually access but let us not limit ourselves,” said Ssenyonyi.
