As one lands in Entebbe, the magnificent Lake Victoria sparkles, almost colourless against the relief of the rich greenery and deep red soil. The Ugandan passengers on the flight all crane to catch a glimpse of their home, before their feet touch the ground. There’s an eagerness you see time and again, on flights ‘home’ – to Kathmandu or Colombo, Kochi or Dacca. The returning sons and daughters of the soil feasting with their eyes, from up in the sky, what they’ve missed for years. It’s a searing contrast to take off from the monotony of brown of the Gulf and land in something so verdant.
Some of those coming back are the ones who will help others go abroad – they have job offers and ‘free visas’ in their kitty, and for a not-so-small fee (1 million to 2 million shillings), become stealthy recruitment agents.
In Uganda, migration of lower-skilled workers (outside of Africa) is a rather recent trend. Governments, communities, NGOs and recruitment agencies are learning trial by error; unfortunately, those errors cost workers their lives and livelihoods. The lexicon of migration used by stakeholders is itself a problem –’ export maids’, ‘license to export labour’ – a commodification from the start.
Atuko Grace, Principal Labour Officer of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, does not deny the lack of preparedness.
“In 2013 we signed a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia, and we had challenges,” she says, referring to the large number of abuse cases reported. “Girls were being taken without pre-departure training. The Government was involved in the training of security guards etc, but not for domestic workers.”
No experience, no training
When cases of abuse were widely reported, Uganda banned its female citizens from going to the Gulf as domestic workers. In May, a Parliamentary decision was taken to lift the ban - Opens in new tab, as per which, workers will be deployed only to countries with which Uganda has signed an agreement.
“We recently signed an agreement with Jordan. And we have revisited the Saudi agreement. We don’t want to make the same mistake we did while signing the agreement with Saudi. So we have called for proposals to establish for pre-departure training centres.”
Earlier, when domestic workers were being sent through formal channels, the pre-departure training was done by agencies themselves.
“About the language, the culture, how to behave in the household, how to use electronic appliance etc. But it’s not a module. It’s what the agency decided was important.”
While agencies are licenced by the Ministry’s Externalisation department, the pre-departure training itself was not supervised and informed by the Government.
As rudimentary as the training was, when the ban came into effect, that stopped. The recruitment agents we spoke to say none of them serviced domestic workers job orders now.
Unsurprisingly, the ban has been ineffective, and workers continued to go abroad. When you have uncles and friends, what need for agents?
The Ministry doesn’t have numbers, but Atuko says they receive a lot of complaints from families of victims. “Usually they would have gone through Kenya or Tanzania to the Gulf countries. Then the families tell us they are stuck there without a visa, or in a bad situation.”
I can’t go back. I will have no value in Uganda if I go back like this. And I need money to pay back debts. I just need to find another job.”
Success at what cost?
“Most of them (migrants) have left illegally. They have heard from a friend or relative. The co-operate with those people, complicit in those lies till they leave and land in trouble,” says Grace Mukwaya, the Executive Director of Platform for Labour Action (PLA), an NGO that provides legal aid and educates workers, both those in the local labour market and those who migrate.
Uganda’s minimum wage has remained at 6000 shillings (less than 2$), unchanged since it was set in 1984.
“No one gets paid that little, but because it’s so low one can’t negotiate fairly. Then people started hearing about opportunities. The bilateral agreement with Saudi in particular, even when halted, gave new aspirations to Ugandans,” she says.
“Many people suffer, many people benefit. Those who succeed their lives are changed. The success stories encourage more people.”
Mukwaya’s cousin is in Abu Dhabi too. “He was getting 2000 shillings a day here. He went there and now earns 1 million shillings. He says ‘I work very hard, am paid very little. I will look for another job.’ But he never says he will come back,” she points out.
Osman* and his friend recently moved to Abu Dhabi and reached out to MRRORS.org. What he was promised was AED2000 as a security guard, and what he received was AED500, working in a bakery. Despite the conflict with the employer and being stranded in the city, he doesn’t want to leave.
“I can’t go back. I will have no value in Uganda if I go back like this. And I need money to pay back debts. I just need to find another job.”
Osman and Mukwaya’s cousin, like thousands of migrants to the Gulf before them, will suppress the hardship and play up the successes when they finally go back home. Until then, they do everything in their capacity to make good of a terrible situation.
In general, and more so since the ban, many citizens go to the Middle East as domestic workers, through places of worship, both churches and mosques.
“A Ugandan worker in the Middle East might get a deal to bring in domestic workers. I’ve heard they get as high as $300 per worker. They often reach out through the Pastors, Imams, Preachers and local leaders, each getting a cut, and who in turn encourage the women to take these jobs without any awareness of the consequences,” Mukwaya bemoans.
The usual spiel goes something like this: “God has done something wonderful for my aunty, He is going to take you to…”
After a year on the streets of Kampala without a job, this would be an easy sell.
