“We are well aware, as a government, these workers’ rights are sometimes abused when working abroad. Indeed, there have been distressing incidents when Kenyan workers have been exploited and abused,” he said/PSCU
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 1 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Kenyans going to work abroad to use approved agencies in a bid to cushion themselves from migrant worker abuse.
President Kenyatta says the government has now streamlined the registration and management of foreign employment agencies.
“We are well aware, as a government, these workers’ rights are sometimes abused when working abroad. Indeed, there have been distressing incidents when Kenyan workers have been exploited and abused,” he said.
Speaking during the Labour Day celebration in Nairobi, President Kenyatta also stressed the importance of registering at Kenyan embassies in the respective countries.
He says the government will continue to introduce stringent measures aimed at protecting Kenyans who work abroad.
Kenyans who have been recruited to work in foreign countries especially in the Middle East have suffered, most of them living like slaves and others have ended up dying in unclear circumstances.
In 2014 the government revoked the licenses of 930 agencies recruiting Kenyans to work in the Middle East.
The government also imposed a temporary ban of the recruitment of workers to the region.
The ban was lifted in 2016 enabling Kenyans with skills in accounting, hotel management and secretarial to work in the Gulf States.
The ban on domestic workers remains in force.
