‘They Call Us Slaves’: Plight Of Kenya’s Domestic Workers In The Middle East
Summary
Date Reported: 4 Oct 2021
Location: Saudi Arabia
Companies
Alsaiar Travel, Tourism and Recruitment Co. - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: 19
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Uganda , Domestic worker agencies , Gender not reported )Issues
Violence , Restricted mobility , Withholding Passports , Wage Theft , Freedom of Movement , ImprisonmentResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Resource Centre; Journalist
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Musavakwa's story is one of many; 18 other Ugandan women also ran away from Alsaiar's detention centre. She eventually returned to Kenya on receiving the airfare from a charitable source in February 2021. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Alsaiar Travel, Tours and Recruitment to respond to the allegations; they did not respond.
Source type: News outlet
Recruiting agencies across Kenya, such as Alsaiar Travel, Tours and Recruitment Limited, an agency based at Uganda House, Nairobi’s central business district, facilitate the movement of the jobseekers to the Gulf for a fee.
Several stranded victims accuse such agencies of abandoning them in their time of need...
As days progressed into months, [Selestine Musavakwa's] employer confiscated her passport, delayed her wages, and eventually forced her to work for free...
"... My agency—Alsaiar Travel, Tours and Recruitment Limited—did not help me. I told them to take me to another house, but they refused..."
Officials from the agency declined to comment on these allegations when Zenger News visited them at their Nairobi office...
Stranded victims of abuse said the Kenyan embassy in Saudi Arabia is doing little to help them, but [Labor and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Simon Kiprono] Chelugui assured them that the government would get them back home. The embassy did not respond to several emailed requests for comment.