COTU Boss Francis Atwoli now wants all labor export matters to be handled by the state ,to do away with agencies exporting labour.
speaking to the press in Nairobi Atwoli said that the state’s efforts to find job openings for jobless Kenyans abroad should be a government-to-government initiative to guarantee their safety.
This according to Atwoli will help streamline the sector and prevent cases of mistreatment in the gulf region.
Atwoli blamed the suffering of Kenyan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf on rogue recruitment agencies that disregard the workers after exporting them.
Under the new proposal the Cotu boss wants government Labour attachés in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries to take charge of the welfare of migrant Kenyan workers in countries under their jurisdiction.
The COTU boss claims that countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Philippines and India that have a lot of workers in foreign countries have adopted such a policy.
According to a report by the Ministry of Labour, at least 80,000 Kenyans live and work in Saudi Arabia with the majority serving as domestic workers.
“The government comes up with figures of the amount of remittance received from these nations but they don’t tell us if it’s worth the death of some of those workers abroad,” said Atwoli.
National Employment Authority data shows that 401 employment agencies are operating in the country without valid licenses.
According to the regulator, out of 932 registered employment agencies in the country only 531 have valid licenses.
Parliament’s previous attempts to address the Middle East worker’s mistreatment have not borne any fruit