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Few trafficked African ladies supported after Gulf abuse

Charity aims to assist survivors through rehab

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Survivors get access to justice, income chances

By Nita Bhalla

NAIROBI, June 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Emily Ounyesiga, 38, beams with pride as she talks about the bakeshop she runs in Uganda's capital Kampala - a lively, bustling space filled with the sweet aromas of freshly baked bread and pastries.

In 2017, Ounyesiga was fooled by a recruitment agent and trafficked to work as a live-in baby-sitter in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

She was promised a month-to-month income of $400 - six times more than she might earn in Uganda. Instead, over a period of four years, Ounyesiga was enslaved, starved, raped and even imprisoned.

"When I returned to Uganda, I was so ill and frail," the mother of 2 told Context/the Thomson Reuters Foundation through a video call.

"But I was luckier than the majority of. I got assistance. I was taken to a medical facility to get treatment, provided with a location to stay, and given training where I discovered baking and had the ability to restore my life. Now, I feel I have an intense future."

Ounyesiga is one of just a few African females who, after being made use of as domestic workers in the Middle East, have actually handled to create a brand-new course with assistance from worldwide charity EverFree. The company runs in Uganda and the Philippines, supplying survivors of human trafficking with shelters, medical and psychosocial care and abilities training.

Monica Kyamazima, head of EverFree in Uganda, said the charity has actually helped hundreds of young women but a lot more remain trapped in poverty and suffering after returning from the Gulf.

In 2024 alone, the charity supported 353 survivors of human trafficking.

According to EverFree, more than 50 million individuals reside in modern slavery and exploitation worldwide - yet less than 1% receive the help they need after they leave.

"Recovery and rehabilitation is essential for survivors," stated Kyamazima. "If this does not occur, some will be wind up victims again and their injury will continue."

TRAFFICKED AND ENSLAVED

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Lebanon have actually for years relied on millions of low-paid foreign workers to work as housemaids, care-givers, baby-sitters, chauffeurs and security personnel.

More than 68% of the oil-rich Gulf area's population are migrants, lots of from Asia and Africa, the United Nations states.

They consist of numerous thousands of women from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria, to name a few countries. Figures from the International Labour Organization reveal about 270,000 Ugandans migrated to the Middle East between 2016 and 2023, mainly to work in the care sector.

The location countries have actually long dealt with criticism from rights groups for a sponsorship system that leaves migrant workers available to abuse and exploitation.

Under the "kafala" system, a foreign domestic worker's legal status is connected to their employer and they can not alter jobs or leave the nation without permission.

This has actually led to prevalent abuses - from passport confiscation, unsettled salaries and excessive work hours to poundings and even rape by family members.

Rights groups accuse recruitment firms of trafficking by luring bad women from towns and villages under false pretences with the promise of well-paid tasks.

A lot of these women think these jobs provide a rare chance to save money and purchase land, develop a home, start a small company or pay their kids' school charges.

But the reality can be rather various.

"I went as a nanny, however instead the madam forced me to do other jobs such as cleansing, cooking, and even working for her regional catering organization," said Ounyesiga.

"When the madam took a trip, her husband would rape me. I informed her what he had actually done, but she just gave me a Panadol and cautioned me not to go to the authorities," she added.

Ounyesiga stated she was paid less than half of what she was guaranteed by the recruitment agent and after sustaining more than three years of abuse, she went to the authorities in Abu Dhabi.

The police, however, declined to assist her - implicating her of violating her work contract. She was imprisoned for six months before being deported home to Uganda in 2021.

TRANSFORMING PAIN INTO PURPOSE

Derek Kigenyi, deputy planner of the national coordination office for the prevention of trafficking personallies at Uganda's ministry of internal affairs, said the federal government had taken actions to avoid the abuse of residents.

It signed bilateral contracts with some Arab nations to guarantee better protection for Ugandans and established a website where only vetted work agencies are permitted to advertise jobs.

But he said Ugandan embassies in Gulf nations did not have the required personnel.

"We don't have jurisdiction to try these cases in Uganda and we don't have the legal personnel in the Middle East to represent victims and pursue the companies," said .

Providing survivors with access to justice, EverFree has actually assisted in the prosecution of recruitment agents in Uganda on charges of human trafficking, Kyamazima stated.

The traffickers were jailed, recruitment licenses were withdrawn and the firms were bought to pay compensation, she said.

EverFree likewise trains survivors in abilities like baking, tailoring and jewelry-making so they can begin a business and generate income, and it works to educate ladies about the threats of unlicensed recruitment companies.
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Ounyesiga stated EverFree assisted change her discomfort into function, including that her experience might use want to other survivors.

"I have handled to begin my own pastry shop. Now, I plan to utilize victims of human trafficking who have actually suffered in the Middle East." (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla