Local recruitment agencies have been blamed for the suffering of Kenyan workers in the Middle East, with MPs revealing some of the firms are owned by senior government officials.
A report from the National Assembly’s Labour and Social Welfare Committee says 89 Kenyans have died in Saudi Arabia since 2019, some 200 held in deportation camps and six hospitalised.
The committee, led by chairperson Wachira Kabinga (Mwea) revealed the tribulations Kenyans go through in the Gulf, including sex slavery.
Speaking at a meeting in Mombasa on the welfare of Kenyan migrant domestic workers with Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui and other stakeholders, lawmakers said they want Parliament to crack the whip on recruiters.
“Our girls cannot continue to be enslaved and suffer in the Middle East. Some are forced to become sex slaves. We met a Kenyan who has been hospitalised for six years….