Few trafficked African females supported after Gulf abuse
Charity aims to help survivors through rehabilitation
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Survivors get access to justice, income opportunities
By Nita Bhalla
NAIROBI, June 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Emily Ounyesiga, 38, beams with pride as she talks about the bakery she runs in Uganda's capital Kampala - a lively, bustling area filled with the sweet fragrances of newly baked bread and pastries.
In 2017, Ounyesiga was fooled by a recruitment representative and trafficked to work as a live-in baby-sitter in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
She was assured a month-to-month salary of $400 - 6 times more than she could earn in Uganda. Instead, over a period of 4 years, Ounyesiga was shackled, starved, raped and even imprisoned.
"When I returned to Uganda, I was so sick and frail," the mother of 2 informed Context/the Thomson Reuters Foundation by means of a video call.
"But I was luckier than most. I got aid. I was required to a medical facility to get treatment, offered with a location to remain, and provided training where I discovered baking and had the ability to restore my life. Now, I feel I have a brilliant future."
Ounyesiga is among simply a couple of African females who, after being exploited as domestic workers in the Middle East, have actually managed to create a new course with assistance from international charity EverFree. The company runs in Uganda and the Philippines, providing survivors of human trafficking with shelters, medical and psychosocial care and skills training.
Monica Kyamazima, head of EverFree in Uganda, stated the charity has actually assisted hundreds of girls but much more remain trapped in hardship 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 people live in contemporary slavery and exploitation internationally - yet less than 1% get the assistance they require after they get away.
"Recovery and rehabilitation is key for survivors," said Kyamazima. "If this does not take place, some will be end up victims again and their trauma will continue."
TRAFFICKED AND ENSLAVED
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Lebanon have for years counted on millions of low-paid foreign laborers to work as maids, care-givers, nannies, drivers and security personnel.
More than 68% of the oil-rich Gulf area's population are migrants, many from Asia and Africa, the United Nations states.
They include hundreds of thousands of females from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria, to name a few nations. Figures from the International Labour Organization reveal about 270,000 Ugandans moved to the Middle East between 2016 and 2023, primarily to work in the care sector.
The destination nations have actually long dealt with criticism from rights groups for a sponsorship system that leaves migrant employees open to abuse and exploitation.
Under the "kafala" system, a foreign domestic worker's legal status is connected to their company and they can not alter tasks or leave the country without permission.
This has caused prevalent abuses - from passport confiscation, unsettled wages and extreme work hours to beatings and even rape by household members.
Rights groups implicate recruitment firms of trafficking by enticing poor ladies from villages and villages under incorrect pretences with the promise of well-paid tasks.
A lot of these women think these jobs provide an unusual chance to conserve cash and purchase land, develop a house, start a little organization or pay their childrens' school fees.
But the truth can be rather various.
"I went as a baby-sitter, however rather the madam required me to do other tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and even working for her local catering organization," said Ounyesiga.
"When the madam took a trip, her spouse would rape me. I told her what he had actually done, however she simply provided me a Panadol and cautioned me not to go to the police," she included.
Ounyesiga said she was paid less than half of what she was guaranteed by the recruitment representative and after enduring more than three years of abuse, she went to the cops in Abu Dhabi.
The authorities, nevertheless, refused to assist her - accusing her of breaking her work contract. She was jailed for 6 months before being deported home to Uganda in 2021.
TRANSFORMING PAIN INTO PURPOSE
Derek Kigenyi, deputy organizer of the national coordination workplace for the prevention of trafficking personallies at Uganda's ministry of internal affairs, stated the government had actually taken actions to avoid the abuse of people.
It signed bilateral arrangements with some Arab countries to make sure better security for Ugandans and established a site where just vetted employment service are enabled to advertise jobs.
But he stated Ugandan embassies in Gulf countries did not have the essential staff.
"We do not have jurisdiction to attempt these cases in Uganda and we don't have the legal workers in the Middle East to represent victims and go after the companies," stated Kigenyi.
Providing survivors with access to justice, EverFree has helped 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 agencies were purchased to pay settlement, she stated.
EverFree also trains survivors in abilities like baking, customizing and jewelry-making so they can begin a company and generate income, and it works to educate women about the risks of unlicensed recruitment firms.
Ounyesiga said EverFree assisted transform her discomfort into purpose, including that her experience could offer hope to other survivors.
"I have actually managed to start my own pastry shop. Now, I plan to use victims of human trafficking who have actually suffered in the Middle East." (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit https://context.news/)
