by JOYCE J. WANGUI
As the quest for working abroad heightens for many skilled and semi-skilled Kenyans, only a handful understand the implications of working in countries where labor laws are ignored. Media reports of brutality toward foreign laborers in Saudi Arabia have done little to deter determined Kenyans from seeking greener pastures. But has the search for a better life become modern-day slavery?
The 2010 International Organization for Migration report Harnessing the Development Potential of Kenyans living in the United Kingdom cites the lack of employment opportunities and unattractive wage levels in Kenya as among the factors that have led to high levels of migration abroad.
Approximately 3000 female Kenyan domestic workers are currently working in Saudi Arabia (although the number could be higher since some do not register with the Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh). Of these, 90 percent are from Mombasa, where a majority of residents share the same Islamic beliefs as Saudis, a factor that woos many into immigrating there.
Saudi Arabia has been in the spotlight for unlawful human trafficking and has been named a Tier 3 country by the U.S. Department of State in its 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report. A Tier 3 country’s government does not fully comply with the minimum standards required by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and is not making significant efforts to do so.
When Salma Noor, 28, left Kenya for Saudi Arabia in 2008, she thought she was entering a safe haven. Her job-recruiting agent had promised her a lucrative job at a duty-free shop based at Riyadh International Airport.
“Upon reaching in Saudi, I was received by a middle-aged couple who told me that I would work in their house as a domestic worker.” Her employers confiscated her passport and took her mobile phone. She was made to work 18 hours a day, usually with no food, save for the little she managed to grab while cooking.
“I was not even allowed to sleep in the house. I slept in an uncomfortably tiny room, which was for their dog before it died. The man of the house often raped me and threatened to kill me if I ever told anyone. His wife beat me on a daily basis, as if the act was part of my job.”
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