“I will forever have flashbacks of what took place in that Arab country,” said a local survivor of human trafficking in November.
Her story is a heartbreaking one, but sadly it’s not uncommon in Uganda and East Africa.
Human trafficking is occurring in our country, however it remains one of the most under-reported crimes as the desperate search for casual jobs abroad has continued to haunt jobless Ugandans particularly women who are trafficked to the Middle East Arab countries by unscrupulous agents to work as domestic servants. The women are later subjected to inhuman treatment, including sexual abuse.
That was the case for this survivor.
The Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Development has tried to streamline procedures for employment abroad by liaising with labour exporting companies like Mr. Gordon Mugyenyi’s Middle East Consultants to ensure the job seekers’ rights not violated at their work stations away from home.
Most Ugandans, who undertake the established government procedure and use legitimate labour exporting companies, have enjoyed their employment abroad and improved their livelihoods back home.
However, their counterparts who choose to seek employment by informal and covert process through human trafficking agents especially briefcase companies littered allover Kampala have suffered some of the worst and most heinous forms of slavery and human abuses that can possibly ever happen to mankind in modern day.
This website has learnt there are many Ugandan workers facing untold suffering from their employers alias “sponsors” in some of the Arab countries. In some cases, the sponsors withhold their pay or accommodate them in isolated buildings which exposes them to rape and other sexual violence.
To this end, Assistant Inspector of Police Fred Yiga, the director of Interpol in Uganda has said that the Police Force has full trust in Mugyenyi’s agency in the fight to eliminate human trafficking.
Speaking on Tuesday morning flagged off 71 youths to go and work abroad, AIGP Yiga said that as police chief in charge of policing Ugandans who work abroad, he has never received any bad report from any Ugandan recruited abroad against Middle East Consultants.
“I want to commend you for being diligent and maintaining a clean record, I have not seen or received any complainants from the people you take abroad that they got problems.”
“I must tell you journalists that human trafficking is a big thorn to us as Uganda Police but we are working with people like Gordon (Mugyenyi) of Middle East Consultants to fight the vice and ensure the safety of our people who go abroad to seek employment.”
Every month, more than two Ugandans are rescued from suffering in the Gulf countries by government.
“It’s prevalant and has to be stopped, but we need private partners like Middle East Consultants who have a great relationship with our consular services overseas, everyone will be registered and be accessed in case of any danger.,” said AIGP Yiga.
Middle East Consultants say it takes the lives and rights of Ugandans they help get jobs abroad as the first priority.
Mr. Mugyenyi explained that MEC keeps in touch with the employers and the workers association in the Middle East to ensure that they are safe.
“For us at Middle East we don’t give tourist visas, what we give is employment visas and we sign an agreement with the employer. We also remain in contact with the employer so in case of anything we contact them immediately and solve the issue there and then,” Mugyenyi said.
Up to 65,000 Ugandans are doing odd jobs in the Middle East, the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), said in 2017.
This is 15,000 higher than the number that was working there one year ago.
According to Action Aid (2012), six in every 10 Ugandans are unemployed. Some lack the skills employers need. In other cases, the economy is not expanding as fast as the labour force.
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