This archive report was first published on 13 June 2021.
June 13, 2021, marked a devastating day for the family of Lucy Wambui, a 35-year-old mother of four who went missing in Iraq. The news of her death came through a Facebook post, alerting the family that a photo of Wambui was circulating on social media, claiming she had been found dead in her room in Baghdad.
Her brother, Harun Ng'ang'a, revealed that the family had been searching for Wambui for six months, writing to the Iraqi Embassy and traveling from Nyandarua to the city every week to seek help. However, they hit a dead end, with no information on what happened to Wambui or how she died.
Wambui had sent a photo of herself dancing during a birthday party thrown by her employer, and just two days before her death, she had called her family to say she would be coming home soon. But she never did.
Similar stories of young women suffering, sick, and stranded in the Gulf were replayed when several families gathered at the Haki Africa offices, seeking government intervention to help them find details of their kin who were reported dead or lost in Middle East countries.
Ruth Atieno broke down when talking about her 25-year-old daughter Caroline Aluoch, who was said to have committed suicide in Saudi Arabia. Aluoch was a Second Year student at Kisii University, who had decided to defer her studies and head to Saudia Arabia as a house help when her parents could not afford to pay her school fees.
When she last called home in January, she sounded scared, telling her family that her employer was abusive and she wanted to return home. However, the family was reassured by the agent who had sub-contracted her that things would stabilize soon.
But the heartbreaking videos emerged, showing Aluoch covered in bandages, sobbing, and pleading for help. A few days later, the family received a call from an embassy representative that Aluoch had committed suicide.
Salima Macharia of Haki Africa, a non-governmental organization that champions human rights, said the government has not come up with measures to control the many agents who recruit youth and place them with dubious employers.
Jane Kariuki, Foreign Affairs head of communications, said they have prepared an advisory to guide Kenyans who are seeking employment abroad, warning that many young Kenyan women and men have been lured by unscrupulous recruitment agents who promise them lucrative jobs, only to die or be left homeless after these ordeals.
