Minister: Girls forced to breastfeed dogs abroad

Kampala

To stop human trafficking and abuse of Ugandans working abroad under conditions that border on modern-day slavery, government has issued new terms for labour export companies directing that they must be cleared by the police.

The December 2014 updated guidelines released by Gender ministry also require all companies to disclose names of the directors and provide evidence of business networks abroad. Giving context to the rules, Gender minister Mary Karooro Okurut said: “Our girls and women are made to breastfeed tortoises and dogs in the places where they rush to get high-paying jobs.”

The minister was addressing journalists in Bushenyi Town at the weekend.
“After leaving Uganda, these innocent young men and women are forced to surrender their passports and tickets. They become real slaves. Some are sodomised and threatened with death if they refuse to be used and it is an injustice,” she added.
Under the guidelines, labour-exporting firms have also been barred from engaging in the business of travel agency and instructed to deposit a non-refundable fee of Shs100,000 at the time of application. The company is also supposed to maintain a strict balance of Shs10 million on its bank account and must pay a licence fee of Shs500,000.

The company must also provide a bank guarantee of Shs50 million.
The guidelines confirmed by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Mr Pius Bigirimana, denote a renewed government fight back strategy. It’s informed by the growing concerns over human trafficking and exploitation of Ugandans working abroad.

There have been several complaints in parliament over the manner in which Ugandans working, especially in the Middle East and South East Asian countries, are sexually abused through forced prostitution.

“We have signed bilateral labour agreements to enable us monitor our people in labour receiving countries,” Mr Bigirimana said. “It’s not business as usual, before companies are licenced, they must meet the minimum requirements. We cannot watch as Ugandans are being exploited.”
Daily Monitor understands the new rules were developed by the labour department after State minister for Labour, Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana, and other ministry officials visited Qatar and Saudi Arabia in October last year.

The purpose of the visits was to source for employment opportunities and negotiate bilateral labour agreements. Explaining why government is tightening the rules, Information minister Rose Namayanja said: “We also want to close the gaps for human trafficking.

The government through Gender ministry is taking steps to strengthen the externalisation of labour programme, targeting recruitment companies and Ugandan migrant workers.”

Human trafficking

According to 2014 Trafficking in Persons report by the US Department of State, Uganda is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking. Two years ago, a similar report by Uganda’s honorary consul in Malaysian federal capital, Kuala Lumpur revealed that more than 600 Ugandan women were stuck in Malaysia’s sex industry. There are 24 licensed private recruitment companies. Mr William Kyojo, the director operations and training at the Normandy Company, a recruitment firm, said: “The victims of human trafficking don’t go through private companies but go on their own.”

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