Article by Mr. Kayonde Abdallah, President – MIGRANT WORKERS’ VOICE ORGANIZATION akayonde@gmail.com . In December 2022, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) suspended the bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia, three days to its end. This bilateral agreement was cancelled, due to the complaints from stakeholders about clauses that were causing conflict amongst players in the migrant workers’ industry. It should be noted that this agreement was compiled in 2005 and it automatically renews itself if it is not contested. When there are no complaints regarding a bilateral agreement, it is assumed that all parties involved are happy with the situation.
We are in great worry about the decision which is yet to be taken in signing the Saudi-Uganda labour bilateral agreement by the government of Uganda without our mutual consent as Ugandan migrant workers,and the ministry of gender, labour & social development deliberately hesitating to conclude on the draft proposals submitted by stakeholders.
Around 10th January 2023, ministry of gender, labour and social development invited stakeholders in a meeting to submit their opinions on the drafted agreement which is yet to be signed by Uganda and Saudi Arabia.
To our dismay, no sooner had everyone just submitted their opinions than the meeting closed within 2 hours without a general conclusion on what to sign with Saudi Arabia – though we were told that the remaining part shall be concluded by the technical people in the ministry and later they get back to stakeholders.
Today February 23, 2023, 4 days to the renewal of the BLA, as migrant workers we have not received any letter from the ministry gender concerning the final draft of the agreement which is yet to be signed leaving us in great worry and not sure if all our opinions were captured and considered in the final draft.
Please note that, once the agreement is signed again without considering our opinions as migrant workers, this could mark another beginning of the suffering of Ugandan migrant workers for the next 5 years in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
And as stakeholders representing migrant workers without hesitation, we express our dissatisfaction calling upon ministry of gender to restrain itself from going ahead to sign this agreement without worker’s opinions captured.
We therefore would like to stress that the opinions of workers highlighted below must not be given a blind eye in as submitted in the meeting if we are to make difference from the previous agreement with Saudi Arabia.
As stakeholders, some of our submissions were; pay rise of all Ugandan domestic workers from 900SAR to at least 1500SAR minimum, workers’ administration under which follow-up, protection, repatriation and reintegration of our fellows shall be handled other than relying on a joint technical committee alone which never existed on record and not even mandated to do the same roles according to the previous BLA, as well as Insurance and a social welfare fund, and others.
One of the shortcomings of this bilateral agreement prepared in 2005, was that it had no Joint Technical Committee (JTC). The existence of this committee was suggested by this agreement, to provide an oversight role over migrant workers. Officials at the MGLSD explained that whenever they would arrange to constitute this committee with the Saudi Arabians, they would not turn up. Without an oversight body, Ugandan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia have been treated inhumanly, abused and degraded, as a result.
There have been numerous unexplainable deaths and disability especially amongst domestic workers working in the Middle East over the years. These girls usually record videos which they share on social media calling for help while in situations where they cannot help themselves.
One of the core issues that migrant workers are looking to have addressed about the myriad, is the minimum wage offered to Ugandan migrant workers. It is appalling that workers from other countries who do the same work in the same locations in the Middle East, earn a much higher minimum wage. This is because these countries have this clause catered for in their bilateral agreements with these countries. Ugandans usually earn a minimum of 700,000 shillings while migrant workers from other countries earn a minimum of 1.6 million shillings.
Secondly, workers from other nations are not mistreated and abused like Ugandans because they have stringent clauses in their bilateral agreements to this effect. Ugandans on the other hand are denied access to justice and health services even when they are visibly in need of these services. They are denied basics like food and sleep, leading some to commit suicide or suffer debilitating health complications or death. Many end up suffering serious mental health issues from the unbelievable degrading treatment meted out on them, which is many times complicated further when they demand to return back home. Their travel documents and phones are confiscated so that they are cut off from friends and family. This gross abuse is against the migrant workers’ rights or human rights for that matter.
While the proposed JTC might provide an oversight role, it might not go deep into all the issues that affect Uganda’s migrant workers. Uganda can benchmark countries like the Philippines which have successfully navigated the issue of mistreatment of their nationals. As a matter of fact, the African Union recommended that all countries involved in labour externalization should benchmark the successful Philippine example because it is working well. Article by Mr. Kayonde Abdallah, President – MIGRANT WORKERS’ VOICE ORGANIZATION akayonde@gmail.com
