Kenya: Cotu Puts Firms Recruiting Kenyans to Middle East 'Slavery' On Notice ¶
Employment agencies taking Kenyans to work in the Middle East have been put on notice for facilitating what Central Organisation of Trade Union (Cotu) has termed as "modern slavery". The government has also been criticised for ignoring the plight of many Kenyans who have reported their suffering while working in the Gulf.
Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli said it was high time all the agencies taking Kenyans to work in the Middle East were shut. He argued that foreign relations and employment should be discussed between governments and not agencies "that have neither offices nor properly listed officials".
"When you hear the CS, or PS of Labour commissioning the issue of Kenyans going either to Saudi, in Riyadh, or Jeddah, Doha in Qatar or anywhere in the Gulf to look for employment; that is an application of indirect slavery officially supported by the Kenyan government through the Ministry of Labour," Mr Atwoli said at Cotu offices in Nairobi.
Mr Atwoli also bashed the agencies, saying they bribe officials in the Labour ministry to get licences to enslave young women and men. He wondered why Kenya does not take labour migration seriously and never negotiates the terms and conditions of employment for its workers.
The Cotu boss said Kenya had enough capacity to create employment for its entire people only if it tamed corruption and came up with policies to protect its youth from being exploited. He appealed to the Kenyan parents not to allow their children to go to those places even if they are tired of them.
