It’s easy to draw superfluous comparisons between working a ‘9 to 5′ and slavery. And we often do when we joke about what we have ...
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It’s easy to draw superfluous comparisons between working a ‘9 to 5′ and
slavery.
And we often do when we joke about what we have to go through at work.
However, for many Africans seeking employment abroad the idea of slave labour
is not just a cliché but an actual reality
Nearly everyone complains about their job. As a
typically overworked and underpaid office employee – having to come in on
Saturdays when you absolutely don’t want to, not to mention the meager salary
and having to deal with the the boss’s ‘strongly worded’ emails – it’s easy to
draw superfluous comparisons between working 9 to 5 and slavery. And we often
do when we joke about what we have to go through at work.
However, for many
Africans seeking employment abroad the idea of slave labour is not just a
cliché but an actual reality. Many women
(and a sizeable number of men) are lured to the Middle East with the promise of
lucrative employment. These women often go through horrendous ordeals, as was
the case withCarris Chepkirui, who was found hanging in her employer’s home
only three days after she started work.
Her sister had just returned from
Lebanon after having endured abuse at the hands of her employers. She was only
allowed to go back to Kenya after threatening suicide. There have even been
reported instances of people who have had to be treated for dog bites while
others have been attacked with candles after trying to negotiate for better
working conditions.
Within Kenya
the problem has reached such heights that the government has been forced to
step in following ‘rampant cases of abuse’. Ethiopia and Madagascar have
similarly set bans on their citizens seeking employment in Lebanon due to the
high number of reported cases of abuse over the years.
Yet despite
these country’s bans, the number of Africans flocking to the Middle East continues
to rise. The region is still the work destination of choice for many female
migrant workers. Every year the promise of higher wages and steady employment
draws millions of migrants from Africa and Asia. In Saudi Arabia the once lax
immigration laws allowed the country to have the largest number of foreign
workers in the region. So much so that, at one point, they made up more than
half of the Saudi labour force.
The problem
African migrants face seems to stem from two sources: the lack of regulation of
domestic work within the national labour framework and the fact that workers
are not aware of their rights, coupled with an inability to speak the local
language. This leads to a culture of unhealthy dependency on their employers.
Within what
is known as the ‘MENA Region’ (Middle East and North Africa) almost all
domestic work exists outside of the legislative national labour framework and
runs on the kafala system. This system allows the ‘kafeel’ (sponsor) a great
deal of power over the migrant worker including the ability to enter and exit
the country. If sponsorship is withdrawn then the employee loses all ability to
stay within the host country. The rug is literally pulled from under their
feet.
There is
little or no space to negotiate and things such as days off are often a luxury
rather than a standard. There have been instances of domestic workers not being
allowed outside because the employer wants to ‘protect their investment’. A
survey done in Lebanon showed that a staggering 70 percent of employers limited
their domestic workers ability to move outside the home.
There is
also the deeper underlying problem of racism. This, coupled with strong
xenophobic currents, causes many locals to view migrant workers from the
continent as either ‘job stealers’ or commodities. In a recent interview one
man from Niger stated said that employers often felt they could do ‘whatever
they want with us’, and ordinary citizens often held their noses when they
walked by.
Although
there are organisations such as Tamkeen in Jordan, Caritas in Lebanon and
Helpers in Egypt that seek to help migrant labourers in these situations there
is still a great deal more to be done. Even though we are no longer being
bundled into boats for the price of a few beads we are still vulnerable to the
tides of international demand and supply.
High levels
of poverty and a lack of employment opportunities within our own borders is
pushing our people into these dangerous positions. We seem to have jumped from
the pan of one slave master into the fire of another and we need to address
this on a national and continental level. – African leadership Magazine
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