Family sues labour export company over return of daughter's body

COURT|LABOUR|EXPORT

Janet Nansikombi has dragged Transcend International, a labour export company, to court after they failed to return the remains of her daughter from Saudi Arabia.

Justin Namubiru, 31, went to work as a domestic servant in Saudi Arabia on June 2, 2019.

Nansikombi said her daughter made constant calls to her about the harsh working conditions. The family appealed to the company to bring her home but it failed.

"In February, Namubiru informed us that she had been imprisoned by her boss for failing to work to her boss' expectations yet she demanded salary arrears," Nansikombi said.

She said at the end of June, Transcend International informed the family that their daughter had died and the company was requesting for their consent so that Namubiru is buried in Saudi Arabia.

"The company did not show us the death certificate or anything to show that our daughter had died," the mother said. Nansikombi explained the family's ordeal at the Women's Probono Initiative offices in Ntinda, on Friday - the World's Day Against Human Trafficking.

"All I want as a mother is for the remains of my daughter to be brought back so that the family pays its last respects," Nansikombi said.

"Times are hard but the President passed a directive, allowing bodies to return and recently trafficked women and girls stuck in Saudi Arabia were brought back to Uganda with the support of the Government," Women's Probono Initiative lawyer Beatrice Kayaga said.

In a phone interview with Transcend International, one Diana said the labour ministry, the export company and the deceased's parents had agreed that Namubiru's body will be returned when the airport opens.