12 Ugandan women being detained in Saudi Arabia

When Oyam South lawmaker Betty Amongi on Wednesday took to the floor of parliament to inform the House of yet another batch of Ugandan 'girls' in peril in a foreign country, one would have been forgiven to think that the issue would be a minor footnote in the day's proceedings.

After all, for the umpteenth time, the House was receiving harrowing news of youthful Ugandans, mostly women, who, out to seek greener pastures in the Arab world end up in the throes of prostitution rings or, in grim detention centers without legal representation.

Instead, Amongi's revelation that 12 Ugandan girls are currently in detention in Saudi Arabia saw Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga; broach the idea of the country starting a contingent fund to help "rescue Ugandans in distress in foreign countries."`

Amongi, the chairperson of the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association - an umbrella body that brings together female legislators, told the House that the 12 women were recruited by an unnamed labor exporting firm.

However, on arrival in Saudi Arabia, the 12 women had their passports confiscated, before ending up in detention.

"We require urgent government attention over this matter. In instances like this where people lack legal representation, state-to-state engagement can bring relief through deportation," Amongi said.

The women in detention, Amongi said  include; Nakamya Latifa, Naku Zamu, Nabukalu Aisha, Kyabaganje Hadijah, Nakitta Rebecca, Naigaga Sawiya and Kagoya Sharua.  

Kadaga later told the House that she had received two phone calls by some of the women pleading for a rescue effort.

Dr. Kamanda Bataringaya, the state minister for labor promised that government would take swift action.

"The 'girls' told me that fellow detainees from Ghana and Kenya were released the moment their embassies intervened. Its important that government intervenes in this matter," Kadaga said.

Dr. Kamanda Bataringaya, the state minister for labor and industrial relations later told the House that government, through its embassy in Saudi Arabia will swiftly handle the matter after receiving finer details from Amongi.

In July 2015, government of Uganda signed a pact with Saudi Arabia to 'export' labor in different fields to the oil rich kingdom.

The rationale behind the agreement was to streamline labor export to Saudi Arabia after harrowing tales of abuse of Ugandans working as house maids in Saudi Arabia became a news staple.

Hardly a year later, government imposed a ban on labor export to Saudi Arabia, citing the continued abuse of Ugandan house maids by their Saudi employers.

"The ban will remain in force until the conditions are deemed fitting," minister of gender, labor and social development, Muruli Mukasa noted in a letter sent to ministry of foreign affairs early this year.

As of August 2014, the number of Ugandans who had left the country for the Middle East in search of employment since 2006 had reached 42,015.

This information was given to the committee of gender by Milton Turyasiima, the principal labor officer in charge of statistics in the labor ministry.