Government rejects ban on labour export

PARLIAMENT. Government has expressed fears of losing up to Shs2.2 trillion if a ban on labour export is to be effected. This is the amount received as annual remittances from Ugandan labourers working in the Middle East alone.

Ms Peace Mutuuzo, the Minister of State for Gender and Cultural Affairs, in a statement presented to Parliament yesterday, indicated that “migration is as old as history of mankind and all of us are products of some form of migration.”
She was responding to demands by a section of MPs who proposed that export of labour be suspended until proper measures are instituted to protect Ugandan migrants.

The MPs proposal follows several outcries by Ugandan domestic workers abroad over alleged ill-treatment and torture.
Ms Mutuuzo said Ugandans have since the pre-independence period travelled abroad for work. “Some have travelled on their own, while others were facilitated by traffickers,” the minister stated.
The minister added that Uganda has 84,000 migrant labourers operating in the Middle East alone as of June 2019, the number having jumped from a mere 9,967 in 2010.
This figure only captures migrant workers who go through licensed companies. There are 162 licensed labour exporting companies over the same period (2010-2019.)

The minister argued that a ban cannot suffice because an attempt in 2016, only worsened the situation.
“The ministry does not clear workers to Oman, however, today there are more than 40,000 Ugandans working in Oman. The ministry is, therefore, hesitant to impose a ban because there are still strong pull-factors like relatively higher wages in the Middle East,” Ms Mutuuzo said.
With an annual collection of $600m (Shs2.2 trillion), Ms Mutuuzo said the Middle East contributes 50 per cent of total remittances earned by the country.

“Furthermore, the migrant workers in the Middle East are contributing substantially to their families through construction of houses and paying of school fees,” she said.
Other benefits highlighted by the government include improvement in incomes of the migrant workers and acquisition of new and positive work ethics and skills.
The minister said the industry, lucrative as it might be, is faced with a number of challenges, among them deployment of migrant workers to unknown destinations and hostile working conditions by traffickers.

She, however, acknowledged that the traffickers were taking advantage of the absence of formal measures by the government.
“In the absence of a formal safe, orderly and regular pathway for placing people abroad, the traffickers would remain the only way out for individuals who have made a choice to seek work abroad,” Ms Mutuuzo said.

The statement indicated that 2,334 victims of human trafficking have been rescued between January and June 2019.
Ms Mutuuzo, however, noted that the government was undertaking measures to ensure safe labour migration and protection of rights of migrant workers and that a joint ministerial committee chaired by Ms Janat Mukwaaya, the line minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, has been put in place to check the lapses.

NUMBERS

Of the 84,000 known migrant workers, UAE (Dubai) tops the list with 29,386 workers, followed by Ira1 (19,719) and Saudi Arabia (18,529)

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