Uganda has one of the highest population growth rates globally with more than 78% of its population below the age of 35 This is the productive age of many people but while the labor force is increasing with each passing year, the labor market is shrinking rendering it incapable of accommodating the 500,000 young Ugandans that join the labor market annually. Globalization represents a growing integration of national economies, along with the diffusion of social, cultural and political norms and practices all over the world and this presents a perfect conduit for labor and knowledge transfer to thrive.
Michael Mutyaba, a PhD student in the field of migration observed that the major drivers for labor externalization are both internal and external factors, local and international, and economic and historical. For example, the rise of the Gulf States (Middle East economies) vis-a-vis the protectionist migration policies in the West, and the high unemployment rates and poverty levels in Africa. This has made Africa the major supplier of labor in the Middle East, albeit domestic and semi-skilled labor. The government and Ugandans at large have taken advantage of this reality and the current global environment to actively participate in labor mobility.
Statutory Instrument No. 62 on the externalization of labor, Employment (Recruitment of Ugandan Migrant Workers Abroad) Regulations. Through provisions herein and adherence to international conventions, Uganda has shown a strong commitment to family rights and reunification. The Guidelines on Recruitment and Placement of Ugandan Migrant Workers Abroad state that, for workers traveling outside Uganda for employment in another country, both nations shall facilitate the reunification of migrant workers and their families.
The details contained in a Ministry of Gender migrant labor report covering 2016 to the beginning of 2022 indicate that at least an average of 24,086 Ugandans leave Uganda annually in search of employment, especially to the Middle East. However, not all Ugandans leaving the country leave through proper channels, many are victims of human trafficking. Although Uganda has taken steps to combat human trafficking, including the adoption of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2009 and subsequent enforcement through the National Action Plan. The Act provides for the prohibition of trafficking in persons, creation of offenses, prosecution and punishment of offenders, prevention of the vice of trafficking in persons, protection of victims of trafficking in persons, and other related matters. Gaps still exist that human traffickers use. For example, porous borders which many traffickers use to transport unsuspecting and sometimes desperate victims out of the country.
An area of policy concern to address the challenges relating to the conditions of labor migration is the bilateral labor agreements between governments in the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) and African governments. These represent an extra-judicial form of regulation, an important dimension of migration governance that recognizes the cross-jurisdictional nature of the concerns raised by the externalization of labor to the Middle East. In the case of Uganda, the stated objective of these bilateral labor agreements is to address some of the challenges faced by migrant workers. These include sexual assault, especially for women, exploitation and vulnerability to organ extraction
The effectiveness of the bilateral agreement model is yet to be established by research. However, it provides a basis for holding the state parties accountable. What is largely unaddressed are the contractual agreements constituted under these agreements between migrant workers and the private employment agencies, both in the sending and the receiving countries. An exploration of the nature and effectiveness of these contracts should be the subject of engagement with the recruitment agencies and former and prospective migrant workers given the gaps already identified by some reports.
There is a policy gap in terms of signing bilateral labor agreements which hinders the government’s ability to monitor and know what is happening. The respondents notably those from CSOs, academia, and government, noted that currently, it is only the bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia that is operational; the one with Jordan was put on hold for review in 2018, while the one with UAE has never been operationalized because it had some gaps. Without binding bilateral labor agreements signed, the roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in ensuring the safety of Ugandan migrant workers remain uncertain.
The other policy gap identified by respondents is the lack of capacity of embassies to keep track of Ugandan migrant workers that enter these countries. For example, the embassy in Riyadh is expected to serve Ugandans in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and Yemen. Its capacity to track and ensure the safety of all Ugandans is next to impossible. While the government recognizes the need to work together with the recruitment agencies and government entities both at home and in the receiving countries, for this to happen, the government should strengthen the signing of bilateral labor agreements. The inexistence of such agreements, joint reporting mechanisms, and safe labor laws leave policy gaps that human traffickers and illegal recruitment companies exploit.
To effectively regulate the labor mobility sector, the government has to strengthen policy implementation, monitoring of recruitment agencies to eliminate wrong characters, and border controls to reduce the vice of human trafficking. There is also the need to sign labor agreements with more Gulf States, and build the capacity of Ugandan embassies in terms of the number of staff to handle complaints and monitoring to ensure the safety of Ugandan working outside the country. The labor mobility sector needs to be better regulated as remittances from Ugandans in the diaspora make a reasonable contribution to the Gross Domestic Product and are a lifeline for many rural people.
In order to effectively regulate the labor mobility sector and fight human trafficking the government needs to focus on increasing efforts to complete judicial proceedings, while respecting due process and the rights of the accused, increasing coordination between police investigators and prosecutors of trafficking crimes, expanding protective services for victims, specifically through partnerships with NGOs, including by allocating resources, increase training for Ugandan embassy staff on assisting trafficking victims abroad, including victim identification, providing temporary shelter, or identifying local NGO shelters for victim referral, and facilitating the repatriation of victims. Where feasible, assigning labor attachés to Ugandan embassies to monitor migrants abroad. Implementing strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment companies and improve enforcement, including by continuing to investigate and prosecute those involved in fraudulent labor recruitment. Increasing bilateral negotiations with neighboring and destination country governments on migrant worker rights, including on the release and repatriation of Ugandan migrant workers exploited by employers abroad and on mutually enforceable standard contracts.
By Patricia Namakula
