<strong>STATEMENT | Externalization of Labour – Betty Amongi Ongom</strong>

ugandamediacentreblog

Sep 8

The PS, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development
The Management of the Media Centre
Ladies and gentlemen of the press

Good morning to you all and welcome to this press briefing.
Let me also take this opportunity to thank the management of the media centre for always hosting us.
As part of our public relations strategy, the Ministry routinely updates the media and the public on progress of various programmes.
Today, I am holding this press briefing to update you on the status of the externalization of labour programme. However, on this occasion I am addressing you against the backdrop of a media (both mainstream and social) that has been awash with stories of distressed Ugandan migrant workers including those stranded on the streets of Dubai and other cities in the United Arab Emirates.
Some are genuine cases which the Ministry has taken up and others have turned out to be pranks. The majority of the genuine cases have been victims of trafficking or individuals who travelled on their own and have overstayed their tourist or visit visas.
For instance, an August 2022 Report from our Mission in Abu Dhabi shows that many Ugandans illegally staying in the UAE have been living on the streets. The Report notes that in early August 2022, the Authorities of the UAE offered free tickets to all illegal migrants. As a result, many illegal migrant workers have reported to Al Awir Immigration Centre for assessment and eventual repatriation to Uganda. The Report indicates that none of the 452 Ugandan who had reported to the Al Awir Immigration Centre had traveled through a recruitment company.
Whereas migrant workers who travel through licensed companies also suffer distress, they a better placed to seek redress since the Government and the recruitment agencies are accountable for them.
I therefore would like to urge all Ugandans who wish to travel abroad for work to do so through formal channels.
We are closely working with Ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs to combat trafficking of Ugandans to U.A.E and other Middle East countries.
The fight against human trafficking is a call for everyone. The individual, family, community, local leaders, security agencies, the media, cultural leaders, church leaders and Government
In light of the above and in the interest of the public, permit me to share some information with you on the Externalisation of Labour Programme.
In 2005, the Government initiated the Externalisation of Labour Programme with two objectives:

i. To create a safe, orderly, regular and formal channel for Ugandans who choose to seek employment abroad; and
ii. To establish a short-term window for addressing the unemployment challenge in the country.

It was very clear at the launching the programme that externalisation of labour was a temporary measure aimed at cushioning the unemployment problem in the country.
In the long run, through increased investments in agriculture, infrastructure, industry, tourism, the country would be able to create more decent job opportunities for its labour market entrants. Therefore, while job opportunities exist abroad, the Government remains committed to ensuring the effective utilization of its own human resource at home for national development.
There are two channels of traveling abroad under the Externalisation of Labour Programme. These are:
i. Through licensed recruitment agencies; and
ii. Through individual initiative but with approval of the Ministry. Here the worker sources for the job as an individual.
However as indicated earlier, despite the existence of an official window, many individuals either out of ignorance or choice have travelled abroad through informal and or irregular channels.
The Externalisation of Labour Programme is regulated by the Employment Act and The Employment (Recruitment of Ugandan Migrant Workers Abroad) Regulations 2022. The objective of both instruments is to protect the rights of migrant workers through stringent licensing requirements and placement procedures.
Under the said legal framework, a person cannot transact business as a recruitment agency in Uganda without a valid license. Today there are 306 licensed recruitment companies.
The licensing requirements include:
i. Registration under the Companies Act;
ii. A company must have a minimum of fifty million Uganda shillings as share capital;
iii. A maintaining balance of UGX 10 million on the bank account;
iv. All shareholders must be Ugandans;
v. Clearance by Interpol and Joint Intelligence Committee;
vi. Payment of a non-refundable fee of UGX 100,000/= at the time of application;
vii. Payment of a license fee of UGX 2,000,000/=;
viii. Submission of CVs of directors, and employees of the company;
ix. Bank guarantee of UGX 100,000,000/=;
x. Audited financial statements for the past one year; and
xi. Income tax returns for past one year;
The major destination countries are: UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Somalia and Kuwait.
Between 2016 and June 2022, over 201,000 workers had been placed abroad
Details are in the Table below:
The migrant workers disaggregated by occupational category are also detailed below:
There are benefits associated with the Externalization of Labour programme which include: -
i. Job creation: Creation of at least 200,000 employment opportunities with wages of UGX 900,000 and above;
ii. Remittances of about USD 900 million per year from Gulf Cooperation Council migrant workers.
iii. Improvement in incomes of the households of migrant workers;
iv. Migrants return with new skills and contribute to human capital development of the country;
v. Promotion of tourism through the migrant workers abroad. Many tourists from the Middle East have come to Uganda; and
vi. Contribution to Non-Tax Revenue (NTR): Between December 2021 to 30th June 2022, the Ministry has collected NTR of UGX 11.9 billion.
Despite the above benefits, the programme has encountered a number of challenges which include:
i. Lack of an efficient and robust monitoring system for migrant workers in the destination countries;
ii. Delays in settling cases involving migrant workers by judicial authorities of the host countries;
iii. Inability by Embassies to offer adequate legal aid to Ugandan migrant workers in courts;
iv. Holding migrant workers for long periods in accommodations centres due to delays in settling disputes and issuing of exit visas;
v. Inadequate monitoring and supervision of the 306 recruitment agencies and 24 pre-departure orientation training centres;
vi. Increased cases of human trafficking: Traffickers often through false representation, deploy workers into unknown destinations with hostile working conditions;
vii. Exploitation of Ugandan migrant workers by illegal Ugandan recruiters who are resident in host countries through false promises for better pay.
viii. Violation of the rights of workers especially domestic workers;
ix. Inadequate consular assistance to migrant workers especially those under distress.
A number of measures have been taken to promote safe, regular and order migration which include:
i. Revision of the Law: The Employment (Recruitment of Ugandan Migrant Workers) Regulations, 2021, have introduced a number of measures to address some of the challenges mentioned above, which include:
a. Restricting ownership of recruitment companies to only Ugandan nationals;
b. Where a Ugandan recruitment agency is paid fees by a foreign recruitment agency, the Ugandan recruitment agency shall not charge any migrant worker any fee;
c. Where there is evidence that a Ugandan recruitment agency has not been paid fees by a foreign recruitment agency, a Ugandan recruitment agency may charge fees but with the approval of the Ministry. The placement fees charged should only cover the costs for the placement of a migrant worker, including medical examination and inoculation of the migrant worker; processing the required visa; and air ticket;
d. Charging migrant workers unauthorized fees is a ground for revocation of a license;
e. Recruitment agencies are not allowed to publish job adverts that have not been approved by the Ministry and acting to the contrary is a ground for revocation of a license;
f. All foreign recruitment agencies that present a job order for verification to the Ugandan Mission Abroad pay a fee of thirty US dollars, for every vacancy on the job order. The Non-Tax Revenue expected from this measure is supposed to support strengthening externalisation of labour activities in Uganda, establishment of accommodation shelters for Ugandan migrant workers abroad, provision of consular services including the deployment of Labour Attaches.
g. The value of the bank guarantee is used to clear any claims that may arise from migrant workers against a recruitment agency was increased from fifty million to one hundred million;
h. The penalties for offences under the Regulations have been increased from three months to five years imprisonment or a fine not exceeding one Thousand currency points or both.
ii. Predeparture orientation and training: Predeparture orientation and training is mandatory and a pre-condition for clearance of a migrant worker. The period of predeparture orientation was increased from 7 days to 14 days. The overall goal of the training and orientation is to provide migrant workers with practical knowledge about their jobs, and prepare them for cross-cultural adjustment as well as
iii. The Online System for Management of External Employment: The Ministry developed the External Employment Management System which has digitalized all document processes including license application and issuance as well as clearance of migrant workers. The digitalization of clearance of migrant workers, has allowed real time transmission of information to the Uganda's Missions abroad. This provision of real time information has facilitated the provision of consular services.
iv. Community Engagements: The Ministry with support from GIZ has carried out awareness creation activities on safe, orderly and regular labour migration in the regions of Acholi, West Nile, Bugisu, Mid-Western, Greater Ankole and Greater Masaka regions. In June 2022, awareness campaigns were carried out in regions of the Teso and Kigezi with funding from International Labour Organization. Other outreach sensitizations are currently ongoing in the East and North-East of Uganda with support from the International Organisation for Migration.
v. External Employment Helpdesk at Entebbe International Airport: The Ministry in December 2019 established a 24-hour External Employment Helpdesk at Entebbe International Airport. The desk verifies clearances of migrant workers issued by the Ministry to curb irregular externalization and forgeries. After verification, the Ministry submits the lists of names to Immigration for clearance. The Help Desk has intercepted a number of companies attempting to externalize migrant workers illegally and handed the same to Aviation Police.

vi. Strict Sanctions Against Companies: Sanctions have been taken against external labour companies which have breached the Regulations and Guidelines on labour externalization like:
a. charging prospective migrant workers money and failing to externalize them; and
b. attempting to externalize migrant workers who have not been cleared
vii. Bilateral meetings and monitoring visits: To date, the Ministry has signed three Bilateral Labour Agreements with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and a Memorandum of Understanding with United Arab Emirates. However, the Bilateral Labour Agreement with Jordan was suspended following unending cases abuse of domestic workers rights without redress. Monitoring visits have also been conducted to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE.

In addition to the above measures, the Ministry is developing an online monitoring and complaints system which will have the following functionalities:
i. A migrant worker will register his or her profile on the application.
ii. In case of any complaint, a migrant worker will register the complaint on the online application. The complaint can be submitted in form of text, audio or video. The migrant worker's location will automatically be captured at the point of registering the complaint.
iii. The complaint will be received by the local recruitment agency associated with migrant worker, the Embassy and the Ministry.
iv. The online application will track the status of a complaint until it is resolved. The status of complaints will also be viewed on the online dash boards of Minister, Permanent Secretary and Ambassador.
v. In case of an emergency, the App has an emergency button that submits a distress signal with video within microseconds of its recording. The recording will be received by the Ministry, Embassy and the recruitment agency. Even if the recording is deleted, it will still be received by the local recruitment agency, Embassy and Ministry
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the Government is committed to make labour migration safe, regular and orderly. The Government is taking a number of measures to promote the creation of employment at home. I therefore call upon youth not to consider travelling abroad as their first choice. However, those who choose to travel abroad for work should go through the formal channels
Furthermore, I would like to call upon the media to practice more responsible journalism by not recycling everything on social media as gospel truth. The Permanent Secretary and his technical team are always available to provide information

I thank you

Hon. Amongi Betty Ongom
Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development

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