Saudi Arabia opens doors to Ugandan job seekers
The Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Ms Janat Mukwaya (left), and Mr Ali Bin Nasser Al Ghazis, the Minister for Gender in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sign the Labour Pact recently. COURTESY PHOTO
What you need to know:
This was a follow-up on the implementation of the earlier labour export commitments made by the two countries in late 2016 and January 2017
Mr Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent Secretary in the Gender ministry, revealed that following the new agreements, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Kampala was expected to resume issuance of Visas for workers destined for the Arab state
KAMPALA- Uganda has signed a labour agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to allow Ugandan professional workers seek formal employment in the west Arabian state.
Prior to the signing of the new General Labour Recruitment Bilateral Agreement on December 31, 2017, Uganda could only export labour in form of domestic workers and not professionals.
The signing of this new labour pact between the two countries paves way for Ugandan Licensed companies to recruit professionals and non-skilled workers including doctors, nurses, engineers, drivers, carpenters, welders and domestic workers, among others.
Gender minister Janat Mukwaya on behalf of Uganda and Mr Ali Bin Nasser Al Ghazis, the minister for Gender on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, inked the agreement.
Follow-up
This was a follow-up on the implementation of the earlier labour export commitments made by the two countries in late 2016 and January 2017.
“We also signed off the amended Labour Agreement on Domestic Workers earlier signed in 2015 to specifically streamline the operations of the labor externalisation sector with focus on fighting against trafficking and violation of workers’ rights,” a statement released by the Gender ministry yesterday quoting minister Mukwaya revealed.
The statement further read: “Both countries agreed to step up their Labour management and regulation mandates to ably weed out exploiters and ensure protection of the workers’ rights.”
Mr Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent Secretary in the Gender ministry, revealed that following the new agreements, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Kampala was expected to resume issuance of Visas for workers destined for the Arab state.
“The Embassy stopped issuing labour export Visas when we imposed a ban on export of domestic workers on 22nd January 2016 in response to reports of violation of their rights. The purpose of the ban was to stop migrant workers from getting into hostile domestic working conditions.” The press statement from the ministry quoted Mr Bigirimana.
Adding: “We then worked with the Saudi Arabian government and put in place measures to promote safe labour migration and rights of migrant workers. Upon satisfaction, we announced lifting of the ban on April 1, 2017 but the Embassy has not been issuing Visas for migrant workers. After the new agreements signing, the Saud Arabia government directed that their Embassy in Uganda immediately starts issuance of the Visas and we are optimistic this will be effected.”
