Ugandan youth cautioned on jobs abroad

By Raymond Baguma

Ugandans seeking employment abroad should be vigilant to avoid falling prey to exploitation of human traffickers.

Moses Binoga, who is the coordinator of the anti-human trafficking national taskforce said, “All that glitters is not gold.

There is need to make Ugandans aware that there is exploitation, abuses which people who go out there, are subjected to.  We have freedom of movement, but you should know that where you are going, there are no jobs.

He said that the Government has at instances intervened to rescue Ugandans from sexual slavery, forced prostitution while others have been providing forced labour in countries such as South Africa, Zambia, Malaysia and Oman.

He said that the ministry of labour has developed guidelines for companies recruiting external labour, and the companies will be tasked to cover the costs of returning recruits who face exploitation.

Binoga was speaking at the launch of the “Surprising Europe” campaign organized by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) country office. The launch took place at Makerere University.

The “Surprising Europe” campaign which includes documentary films by Aljazeera, aims to contribute to the debate about migration from Africa to Europe and raise awareness about the real life of Africans in Europe.

Job Elogu, the head of the diaspora unit in the ministry of foreign affairs said that Ugandan migrants face challenges in destination countries. However, students and expatriate workers have a softer landing.

Isaac Rucci, a Ugandan musician who lived in Europe and America for close to two decades advised youth to take advantage of the opportunities existing in Uganda, instead of searching for opportunities in western economies where the markets are saturated.

Gerald Waite, the IOM chief of mission in Uganda said that Europe has changed a lot and there are no longer job opportunities for low skilled workers that often attracted Africans to European countries.