11/06/2022
Let Me Die Elsewhere: Paradox of the Middle East Migrations
In history migration of African workers to developed countries is all time high. The flow of immigrants into the Gulf countries from Kenya in now unprecedented with majority of them being women and non-skilled.Concervatively, there are 100,000 Kenyan living and working in the Gulf States.
Local gains on the migrations may not outweigh the the pychological and economic burdens of maltreatment, assault and even death reportedly in the hands of rich but cynical employers in the gulf countries parpetreted by ommisions of the travel agencies and their collaborators. The misrepresentations made to the immigrants continue to lure migrants with the allure of jobs, and, hopefully, greater financial independence in the region.
The adverse reports of mistreatment of migrant workers seem not to be much of deterrent to migration as is the motivation to exit the stifled Kenyan economy, the youth bulge and the endemic unemployment.
The gulf countries; Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates form a homogeneous class of states with Islamic monarchical rule, autocratic political systems and oil-based economies that greatly depend on cheap immigrant workers.
Their philosophy to labour is based on the kafala system, which tie workers to their employers and assimilates them into a situation of ‘structural dependence’. Under the labour system, immigrant workers are exposed to vulnerability and abuse. It is also prescribed that employers withhold foreign workers’ legal status and visa within the contract period.
This provision restricts workers’ mobility and their freedom of association.
Consequently, the workers, women in particular, are easily deprived of liberty and exposed to confinement, underpayment or non-payment of wages, bodily and sexual exploitation.
The increasing feminization of immigration to the gulf explains why more women move to the countries than men. Locally, the clamor for gender equity and increasing foreign remittances promoted by government and civil society spurs the migration of women from Kenya.
As a result, employment bureaus, agencies and brokers that are keen on cashing in on commissions repatriated to them from Gulf for the labour of the vulnerable Kenyans. The agencies and their collaborators have since spread their tentacles from major cities to villages in the countryside with a ready market of desparate citizens.
The kafala system of labour practiced in the gulf limits the local agencies or the Kenyan government from responding to any distress call from the Kenyan immigrants. In this system, a Kenyan immigrant is deemed to be ‘sold’ to the sponsor within the time of contract. The sponsor has full control of the workers regardless of their situation.
Accounts of abuse of Kenyan and other African workers in the gulf is an indictment of the kafala system, as it exposes our friends and relatives to horrendous abuse. Even worse, the accounts speak to the inability of travel agencies, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Coordination of Government to confront the challenges of the Kenyan Citizens and demand for reform of the labour system.
It is common for the travel agencies to conduct skills trainings for immigrants before travel, but ignore to incorporate the safety planning component to enable them protect themselves from harm and secure emergency exit in circumstances that lend them to abuse and exploitation.
In the safety plannning, the government can create safe havens for her citizens and be involved in the process of immigration and immigrant tracking. The agencies can also incorporate safety parameter in their pre-travel trainings and nominate a close member of the family in the program as envisaged in the WHO(2014) recommendations.
Additionally, a tracking component by the travel agencies can be used to provide regular reporta on the immigrants which should be shared with the nominated family member.
At the same time , the immigrants an be trained to identify and report potential risks and establish support systems that is critical in averting death, detention or injury. It is important, therefore, that the migrating workers develop skills of using alternative means of communications, familiarize themselves with friendly communities in the gulf or the Kenyan commissions.
When confronted with abuse, the victims should quickly identify opportunities for exit as opposed to developing a wait and see attitude. Friends and relatives are also expected to identify and raise an alarm in case of potential danger to their relatives abroad.
The article was prepared by Dr.Yussuf Motari( Lecturer Kisii University Business School), John Ndemo (Pychological Counseling Expert) and Kevin Nyabuto( Cyber Security Expert).
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