State freezes rush for jobs in S. Arabia

The government has suspended the recruitment of Kenyans to work in the Middle East as domestic workers following claims of abuse.

The ban will stay in place until all recruitment agencies are vetted, according to a statement from the Foreign Affairs ministry on Friday.

The ministry’s diplomatic secretary, Mr Patrick Wamoto, said the government was concerned that most Kenyans seeking jobs in the Arab countries returned home in tears.

“The complaints received range from mistreatment, lack of payment of salaries, over-work, denial of food and lack of communication with their relatives in Kenya. In some cases, the Kenyans are lured by unscrupulous and unregistered agents who promise them non-existent lucrative jobs” Mr Wamoto said.

He stated that the government had a duty to protect its citizens in and outside the country.

“In the meantime, the government wishes to inform all Kenyans that it has temporarily suspended recruitment and export of domestic workers (housekeepers/maids) to Middle East countries with immediate effects.”

There has been an increase in cases of torture and death involving Kenyans in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Last month, the government of Saudi Arabia urged Kenyans seeking employment in the kingdom to only deal with registered recruitment agencies.

Saudi envoy in Nairobi Ghorm Said Malhan said he was working closely with the government to address the complaints.

“Now we make sure in the Saudi embassy that we do not deal with any agency unless they are registered with Kenyan authorities like the Ministry of Labour,” Mr Malhan said.

However, he said recent reports of Kenyans being mistreated in Saudi Arabia had been blown out of proportion, adding that the two countries enjoyed historical cordial ties.

According to the Foreign ministry, there are more than 80,000 skilled and semi-skilled Kenyans working in the Middle East. Forty thousand of these are based in Saudi Arabia.

In the first three months of this year, the Saudi Government processed over 8,000 work permits for Kenyans, compared to 17,000 last year.

Earlier this year it emerged that an international human trafficking ring was working with employees of some embassies in Kenya to recruit unsuspecting Kenyans into forced labour in the Middle East.

The cartel lures Kenyans by placing advertisements of well-paying job opportunities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait in local newspapers.

In October last year, two sisters — Elizabeth Njenga and Catherine Wangui — landed well-paying domestic jobs in Saudi Arabia.

They expected them to work without rest and threatened to kill them “for being good for nothing.”

But barely two weeks into the jobs, they started asking themselves whether the money was worth the trouble.

After two months of enduring the abuse, the sisters asked their parents to send them fare back.

Ms Fatuma Athuman, 25, arrived in Kenya on January 11, 2010, from Saudi Arabia with both hands broken by her former employer.

Ms Mildred Muyaku Wawire was working as a security guard when she was recruited to work for a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia.

The 28-year-old was excited about securing the job. She returned after three months, frustrated and bitter with the stint abroad.