Govt to sign labour export deals in Europe, Canada
Migrant workers board a plane at at Entebbe International Airport on October 22, 2019. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- The Gender ministry says more countries are in need of Ugandan skilled workers.
The government through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development is planning to expand the labour export market by signing favourable bilateral labour agreements with more countries so that more Ugandans can be employed there.
These countries are Oman, Somalia, Lebanon, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Mr Lawrence Egulu, the commissioner-in-charge of employment services at the ministry, said the Minister of Gender, Ms Betty Amongi, last week signed a bilateral labour agreement between Uganda and Qatar to facilitate safe migrant labour.
“It [agreement] has some very good provisions. They are looking for skilled workers more than these domestic workers who are semi-skilled or unskilled. We are looking at drivers, security, teachers, plumbers, architects etc,” Mr Egulu said in an interview yesterday.
“So in terms of job categories, it is beginning to look like the kind of people we produce in Uganda because Uganda is not only a country of maids,” he added.
According to data from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, a total of 269,452 migrant workers left the country between 2016 and 2023 for jobs in 11 countries.
The countries are Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Somalia, Kuwait, Jordan, Poland and Romania.
Of the 269,452, the female migrant workers account for 225,693 while the males are 43,759.
Saudi Arabia employs the largest number of Ugandan migrant workers, with most of them going there to work as housemaids.
Despite its security challenges, a total of 3,254 migrant workers went to Somalia in the past eight years. Majority of them are security guards.
According to Mr Egulu, Minister Amongi could also head to the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, Germany and Poland in the coming days to explore more lucrative opportunities for the Ugandan labour force that could come with better salaries and improved working conditions.
Cases of mistreatment of Ugandan migrant workers have been reported over the years. Deaths have also occurred. Mr Egulu says the cases have reduced especially after the government operationalised the External Employment Management System to monitor all Ugandan migrant workers abroad.
The Gender ministry recorded 868 complaints from Ugandan migrant workers abroad in 2023. Eight hundred and six cases were concluded while 62 cases are pending. Forty-one deaths were registered in the same year.
“We may receive up to 20 complaints per month of all kinds including runaways. The cases have definitely gone down. They are not as outrageous as they used to sound,” Mr Egulu said.
Government is also planning to develop a mobile app, which is aimed at helping Ugandan workers abroad to report challenges. It will now be mandatory for migrant workers to have smartphones and this app installed on the gadgets.
“So in the event of any distress, it is a press of a button and then everybody is alerted from the ministry abroad, foreign recruiters, police, the embassy and then us here (Government of Uganda),” he said.
