'Like a prison' - the risks facing Ugandan women working in the Middle East - video Dailymotion

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00 Like thousands of other young Ugandans, Carol Namugaya is heading out to Saudi Arabia.

00:05 The 22-year-old will soon be earning twice as much as the average salary at home.

00:09 I want to get as much money as I can to help my family and maybe start a business when

00:13 I come back here.

00:15 I will also be able to pay school fees for my brothers and sisters.

00:18 To register for the move, Carol had to wait until the end of March and the renewal of

00:23 a labor export agreement between Uganda and Saudi Arabia.

00:26 Yenifer, who used to work in Oman, is giving Carol a few pointers.

00:30 They love kids so much.

00:31 So if you find a family with kids, love their kids.

00:34 If you love their kids, things will be well for you.

00:37 Yenifer set up her own NGO to protect the rights of domestic workers.

00:41 More than 80,000 workers fly to the Middle East each year and sometimes the jobs go horribly

00:46 wrong.

00:47 Yenifer registers hundreds of complaints a year, many alleging abuse, kidnappings and

00:51 violations of contracts.

00:52 They own you.

00:53 Like they own you.

00:54 The things of contract, they don't want to know.

00:57 The man can force you to have sex when you refuse.

01:00 He can throw you from the maybe fourth floor, then you die.

01:05 Despite the risks, opportunity still entices.

01:08 But even for the lucky ones, the experience can be difficult.

01:11 Rebecca worked in the Middle East for four years.

01:13 There is no day off on the maids.

01:16 Even if you work at night, you are not allowed to keep your passport.

01:21 Like you are in prison.

01:22 Because if someone takes your identification, you can do nothing about it.

01:27 According to the government, the new agreement provides increased protection for expatriates.

01:32 They need our workers.

01:33 We also need to solve certain challenges, whether it's unemployment, whether it's stuff

01:38 around poverty issues.

01:41 You're looking at medical insurance, repatriation, standard issues around the welfare of a migrant

01:48 worker in a foreign country.

01:50 The export of workers is linked to significant remittances.

01:53 An estimated 150,000 Ugandans currently working in the Middle East send back around 900 million

02:00 US dollars to their loved ones a year.

'Like a prison' - the risks facing Ugandan women working in the Middle East

Category

Transcript

Recommended