Address plight of Ugandan girls in the Middle East

Last month, Catholic nuns appealed to government to immediately halt the exportation of labour and identify opportunities in the country that offer alternative employment to citizens. Barely a month later, Sunday Monitor yesterday reported the case of a Ugandan woman who died in Oman after reportedly being tortured by her employers. The relatives of Mariam Nakibuuka, 41, say they were informed last Wednesday that their daughter had died on Monday.

According to Mr Habib Miggade, Uganda’s ambassador to Oman, arrangements are now underway to return the body home. While Mr Miggade told this newspaper that the reports of torture need to be verified, the deceased’s distressed family believe Nakibuuka died from torture, basing on video and audio messages they had received from one Vanesa Angel Nabatanzi in Oman, asking them for payment to bring back Nakibuuka before she died.

Nakibuuka’s case is the latest of the growing incidents of young women being tortured to death in the Middle East over the years. The media has documented cases of the export, enslavement, torture and death of Ugandan women in the Middle East. Many of them are taken as domestic workers by fictitious companies.

Because of the dubious operations of these companies, there is a lot of secrecy and many families only get to know about the whereabouts of their daughters after a distress call. According to Nakibuuka’s relatives, she had attempted to go to work abroad several times but they had always stopped her. When she eventually travelled, she only informed her family the night before she left, after signing papers in the night with a man who refused to reveal his identity.

That was in August, and just four months later, Nakibuuka is dead. She was taken by an unidentified company after she was connected by an unnamed man. Her story represents the ordeal of many girls who are taken to the Middle East by dubious companies.

In April, a report by Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs disclosed that 16 Ugandan girls had committed suicide in the United Arab Emirates. There are various reports of deaths attributed to torture and mishandling by bosses and the labour receiving companies.

The plight of Ugandan girls in the Middle East has gone on for too long. We agree with Mr Henry Okello Oryem, the State minister for Foreign Affairs, that these fake companies which export young people abroad without clear procedures should be closed down immediately.

The government must crack the whip on individuals who dehumanise Ugandan girls by exposing them to untold torture, sexual abuse and slavery in the hands of so-called employers.