here is your African true story africa-wide the plight of African domestic workers in the Middle
East the international labor organization estimates that they are around 3.6 million
domestic workers employed across the Arab states this is largely due to the deficit in Social
care for the young sick and elderly across the region leading to changes in household structures
this has also contributed to the increased recruitment of domestic workers from
developing countries including Africa to work in households as nannies cooks and domestic helps
families in the Gulf States are willing to pay relatively more than what many of these domestic
employees hold on in their home countries for work every year domestic work represent the
possibility of a better life for low-income women especially as any additional income from these
rules may help women support themselves and their families however these workers are subject to the
kafala system whereby a domestic workers legal status in their country is tied to their employer
this system places domestic workers at a risk of Labor trafficking physical mental and sexual abuse
migrant domestic workers are often excluded from labor legislations in host countries
which leave them at the mercy of their employers until their contract is up
according to the international labor organization the informal
and regulated and isolated nature of work makes domestic workers vulnerable to abuse
and often leaves them stranded in foreign countries with little help and no Escape
Lebanon Saudi Arabia UAE Oman are some of the gulf countries where some of the worst
treatment of Migrant workers to modern day slavery has been observed in 2008
Human Rights Watch found that around one domestic worker a week died in Lebanon over
natural causes such as suicides or Falls from tall buildings namely during escapes
a decade later a video emerged of the brutal assaults of two Kenyan women by
two men and a woman on the streets of Beirut the victims Rosa and sharmila were arrested
and threatened with deportation while the attackers went free as it happens most often
in 2012 following years of reported abuse the Kenyan government revoked
work permits and introduced a ban on the floor of Kenyan workers to the Middle East
prior to this legislation recruitment agencies had no obligation to bring workers home following
cases of abuse instead the encouraged workers to remain in their workplaces or reshuffle
them in other homes in order to sustain their ability to profit from their wages
a fresh and haunting incident is that of Diana chepkemui a 24 year old Kenyan student who
had gone to Saudi Arabia in search of a better life but ended up getting detained she revealed
intricate details of her troubles in Saudi Arabia during her emotional arrival that included lock
marking hours starvation physical and mental abuse that she received from her employers
in 2017 African states with domestic workers in their Gulf signed a deal with Saudi Arabia Qatar
and the UAE negotiating a new trade deal where the domestic workers could go to these countries
ideally under protection of new regulations the regulations included a minimum wage of 400
US dollars a month plus housing and food among many other rights ensured by the new bilateral
agreements in the hope of ensuring the safety and protection of African domestic workers abroad
abuse and exploitation of Migrant domestic workers is an issue of international relevance
that concerns the violation of Human Rights and must therefore be addressed accordingly domestic
workers who are victim of abuse are entitled to the right of a fair trial or Court appearances
in order to expose Horrors they have suffered this may ensure that the households who perpetrate this
abuses are prosecuted and punished so as to deter other household from committing similar crimes
instead these women are often threatened with deportation if they report their crimes however
upon their return home many face no job Securities nor savings and suffer many psychological scars
the cases we see are just about a quarter of them all there are
so many stories that are Untold of women and young girls who are stuck in the Middle East
they just sit there waiting for their Dawn all hopes of ever getting home
whether Dead or Alive having disappeared and even with all these reports and data received
many young girls and women across Africa are still journeying to the Middle East
it is about time African governments who have domestic workers in Gulf countries
do more to protect their people this can happen by putting up structure regulations
to agencies that take these girls and women to work outside their home countries and for their
host countries to also be stricter on human rights violation committed by these employers
this can happen by Ashley punishing those who abuse these women and girls in order
to create an example and stop the brutal cycle
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