This archive report was first published on 1 September 2021.
Published on September 1, 2021, Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui raised concerns over the whereabouts of 1.5 million Kenyans working abroad who are not registered with respective Kenyan missions.
According to Chelugui, out of the four million Kenyans living and working abroad, some 1.5 million had not registered with the Kenyan embassies in those countries, making it difficult to trace and assist them.
Chelugui noted that the government remains puzzled over how the Kenyans found their way to those countries without the government's knowledge.
“It has emerged that out of the four million Kenyans working abroad, 1.5 million are not registered with the ministry. How they migrated to these countries remains a puzzle, but it remains the government's business to establish how they got there,” he said.
Chelugui emphasized the need to effectively manage the migration and ensure the Kenyan migrant workers are protected from unfair labour practices.
The Labour CS noted that despite the benefits accruing from the labour migration, weak coordination of labour migration management, inadequate information on labour migration, and policy and legal framework remain a challenge to the growth of migrant labour.
Chelugui encouraged the unregistered migrants to voluntarily report to their respective missions and get registered, stating that ideally, the government needs to get them on board but it is a voluntary exercise.
According to data from the government, the majority of Kenyan migrant workers are in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
