State won't ban migration of workers to Middle East

 Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui addressing the press during the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) meeting in Mombasa in this photo taken on 22nd November 2021. 

Photo credit: Kevin Odit I Nation Media Group

The government will not ban the migration of workers to the Middle East even as Kenyans continue to languish in Gulf countries under cruel employers. 

Instead, Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui says officials will continue to negotiate for foreign labour exports, especially to Europe and the Middle East where there is high demand. 

Remittances to Kenya by such workers, he said, have exceeded Sh120 billion in the past one year, leading to socio-economic benefits for Kenyans. 

“We have to be conscious and aware of the implications of impulsive or erratic decisions of banning Middle East jobs. This is the third time there is such a suggestion but we will not have resolved that problem,” he said. 

“Immediately you make such an announcement as a country, which we are capable of doing, Kenyans will still look for jobs in the Arab nations through other means.”  

He spoke during the official opening of the 17th African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) committee of senior officials in Mombasa.

Mr Chelugui said previously that seven countries in the Middle East used to mistreat Kenyan workers. 

“But through bilateral and diplomatic channels we have addressed the challenges facing our workers. I condemn anybody who harasses, assaults or denies any worker his or her rightful pay or rights. As a government we take this seriously,” he said. 

Recently, hundreds of Kenyans working in the Middle East have recounted their experiences under cruel employers. 

But the CS insisted Kenya is offering a labour workforce to the market and the countries must protect the citizens. 

“They are benefiting from our services and we deserve the fair treatment of our migrant workers. The public has been concerned, we have lost lives but we are not sitting aloof and remote as the government,” he said. 

“We have made communications. I have personally sat with ambassadors and leaders of those countries involved in the interior, immigration and workers’ issues.” 

In the next one year, the government now plans to resolve challenges workers are facing especially in Saudi Arabia. 

The Labour ministry has been opening offices in Middle East countries where harassment, mistreatment, confiscation of travel documents and denial of food to Kenyan workers was reported. 

On December 19, Mr Chelugui will lead a delegation of the ministries of Labour and Foreign Affairs for bilateral talks with the Saudi Arabian government on how to resolve challenges facing Kenyans in the kingdom. 

The government is also working to improve visa and consular services for migrating Kenyan workers. 

“The Ministry of Interior is working on digitising records and fingerprinting so that by keying your details in a computer, whether you are in Mombasa or Nairobi, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations can establish your records and give you a certificate of good conduct on time,” Mr Chelugui said. 

Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) boss Francis Atwoli urged the government to ban labour exports to the Middle East of the challenges Kenyans face there. 

“Jobs in the Middle East is indirect slavery. The state is announcing how they have received remittances but at what cost and in which environment do our people work in?  We receive bodies of Kenyans being flown in from the Middle East every day. We must protect our people,” Mr Atwoli said. 

He urged the government to weed out recruiters and instead negotiate for the jobs through a state-to-state mechanism. 

Meanwhile, Mr Chelugui said Kenyan authorities are engaging their Chinese counterparts to resolve the problems Kenyan crew members face on fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean.

The government, he said, is in bilateral talks to deal with the human rights violations.

Kenya has licensed seven Chinese fishing vessels to operate in its exclusive economic zone.

Kenyan-registered seafarers working on Chinese vessels recently said they were being tortured and mistreated, including being forced to engage in illegal business in the ocean.

Some said their Chinese supervisors threatened to throw them into the sea if they did not cooperate, though they had been recruited by a reputable agent.