By Jeff Andrew Lule

In the beginning, when the Ugandan government decided to legalize the exportation of labour, it was all for the good reasons – to create employment opportunities for jobless locals.

But with time this move was taken advantage of, for not exactly all the good reasons.

Some pounced onto this opportunity as a potentially get-rich-quick channel, by using the very people looking for jobs abroad as bait.

Since then, unscrupulous private recruiting companies and individuals have continued to dupe unwitting desperate Ugandans eyeing greener pastures beyond the local borders.

And the consequences are as punishing as are learning experiences for many victims.

Many unsuspecting Ugandans – mostly the youth – have ended up in the wrong hands, giving rise to human trafficking. Dishonest individuals and establishments have ripped off unwary job seekers with the promise of lucrative foreign jobs.

One such victim of this selfish business is Michael Atuhirirwe.

He had been promised a job at an airport in Qatar, but instead found himself working as a casual labourer for a goods company there.

Before then, he had searched for a job in Uganda for two years but failed. His futile efforts led him to giving a shot at other avenues. So when he eventually came across an advert along the street, by people claiming to secure jobs abroad, he right away tried his luck.

When he called the contact person, Atuhirirwe was promised employment as an airport driver for a monthly pay of $1500 dollars (about sh3.7m) in Qatar. But to land this said job, he had to first part with sh3.5m reportedly meant for arranging for his travel.

The excited young man went on to raise this money by selling off his parents’ cows after promising to pay back after getting the job.

Meanwhile, he would meet with the agents at different informal locations, like gas-filling stations and bars, to be updated on the progress of his recruitment. As any desperate jobless individual would, Atuhirirwe hastily signed the contract.

“I never bothered to analyze its [the contract’s] content,” he admits.

Many have reached this level before, but ended up not being ‘recruited’ even after paying the required money, with their respective agents or recruiting firms citing a range of reasons.

Atuhirirwe was however lucky to be among the few who made it. He was taken along with other three young men, only to end up working in a warehouse as casual workers being paid $350 (about sh800, 000), contrary to what they had been promised (job type and salary).

Upon setting foot on Qatari soil, their employer confiscated the men’s travel documents.

Atuhirirwe, who has since returned to Uganda, says: "We used to package items and load them onto trucks. We tried to explain to our boss who was kind enough to raise our pay to $400 (about sh1m). We had no option since all our documents were in his hands.”

This case is only the tip of the iceberg. More such stories abound. Hundreds of Ugandans are facing a lot of difficulty working abroad without the Ugandan government’s notice.

So how and why is this happening?

The problem

The Ugandan state minister for labour, Mwesigwa Rukutana points out two main problems: one, individuals purporting to be recruiting agents, and two, submission of fake contracts by some recruiting companies.

Although contracts of recruitment companies are always reviewed, some firms provide false information to the ministry about the said jobs, the minister says.

"Many of our people are promised lucrative jobs and high salaries which do not exist. They are always hesitant to give details of the said jobs and conditions. That's why many people end up being exploited. But if we get such companies, they get deregistered.”

Rukutana cites the Uganda Veterans Service which was deregistered following claims by some girls that they had been shrewdly recruited into sex slavery in Qatar.

He adds that some recruiting companies collect money from people by promising jobs that are not even available.

"We realized some companies do it to get more people to easily secure contracts, but we have stopped it. That is why some applicants take long to travel at times. Others are taken for different jobs and forced into other activities.”

According to the labour minister, some contractors confiscate their employees' passports to prevent them from running away.

He adds that the Ugandan government has never authorized exportation of labour to India, Malaysia, Japan and China yet people are taken there by unlicensed individuals.

Fake documents

The minister reveals that about 30 companies are licensed and these always have to submit their secured contracts to the External Employment Unit (EEU) at the labour ministry to scrutinize their authenticity, alleged jobs and employer.

"But some companies find their way out by submitting fake documents. Sometimes we lack capacity to travel abroad to ascertain the supposed jobs.”

Meanwhile, the government recently banned the exportation of domestic workers (housemaids).

"We are going into bilateral agreements with countries where we are seeking employment so as to easily monitor our people and what they do. We are also revising our regulation to work with Ugandan missions abroad," Rukutana explains.

Kyateka Mondo, assistant commissioner for youth in the ministry of gender, says there are some crafty individuals who infiltrate the system through organized human trafficking.

He insists recruitment companies must extensively update their clients before signing contracts.

"People must be briefed on what they are going to do [terms and conditions of the job] and everything must be reflected in the contract, and recruits must be helped to interpret the contract.”

Mondo, who is also the gender ministry’s publicist, explains that work must be defined and agreed upon by the client with a letter indicating the availability of the job.

‘Hard to trace them’

According to the coordinator of Counter Human Trafficking National Task Force, Commissioner of Police Moses Binoga, many more Ugandans are trafficked illegally.

A total of 837 victims of trafficking were registered in 2013. Out of these, 489 were victims of transnational trafficking while 408 were trafficked internally.

In both groups, many were reportedly recruited through deception – by promising lucrative employment with high salaries, care and education.

Binoga says majority of the transnational trafficking victims were recruited by individuals and unlicensed companies and left the country by road through neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

"Our people should always use licensed companies because their addresses are known and can easily be traced. Many who are exploited use unlicensed people and it is hard to trace them.”

It is understood unlicensed individuals use Tourist Visas which are relatively expensive and are valid for a short time.

Because many job seekers rush into signing contracts, they forget to get details of the jobs stated, and many recruitment companies are happy with that naivety. For them, the less the recruits know, the better for their business.

Some of them advertise ‘cleaning jobs’ but don't explain to applicants what type of cleaning it is.

Binoga observes: "In Arab countries, ‘cleaning’ means doing the entire house work – which is different from office cleaning. Housemaids are not protected by labour laws in Arab countries. That's why many cry over being exploited.”

Some recruits go to work abroad hoping to switch to other jobs along the way, which according to Binoga, is “impossible”.

"You cannot change an employment visa in Arab countries.”

'Lack of evidence'

Transnational exploiters use threats to frustrate clients who want out.

In case a recruit tries to terminate the contract, he or she will be threatened to refund expenses incurred on air tickets and the processing of resident permits. Threats of confinements and withdrawal of passports to prevent them from ‘escaping’ are also used.

It is believed there is a rise in human trafficking, although the Ugandan police has no proper mechanisms for recording these cases, according to Binoga.

He adds that many such cases fail to take off due to lack of evidence while many victims are uncooperative.

"Cases of defrauding are complicated because when companies refund the money, the victims disappear with the money instead of working with police to be used as exhibit [the money] to have a strong case against the company involved. That is how we end up dropping many cases.”

Records show that most complaints registered in transnational trafficking are related to labour exploitation, mostly in form of domestic work and sexual exploitation through forced prostitution in the Middle East and South East Asian countries.

Other forms of exploitation are human sacrifice, child marriage, removal of body organs for sale, and worker conditions similar to slavery.

The 2013 Police Crime Report indicates that most Ugandans were trafficked to Kuwait, Syria, DR Congo, Malaysia and India.

The report indicates that a total of 250 suspects were arrested over human trafficking-related cases last year. Of these, 56 were taken to court and two were convicted of promoting human trafficking.

Over 77 cases of human trafficking are still before the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice and over 44 cases were dismissed due to loss of interest by the victims.

2013 Police Crime Report: Number of Ugandans trafficked to which country

Kuwait (98), Syria (83), DR Congo (72), Malaysia (43), India (35), UAE (15), Turkey (13), Kenya (11), Qatar (10), South Sudan (10), Thailand (8), Saudi Arabia (4), Oman (3), Iraq (3), China (2), South Africa (2), Germany (2), USA (2), Rwanda (2), Czech Republic (1), Lebanon (1), UK (1), the Netherlands (2), and Switzerland(1).

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