The opposition FDD has supported the stance taken by the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions and other stakeholders in regard to the 1000 job offers for Zambians in the Gulf region.
Party Chairperson for Labour Yotam Mtayachalo says while his party commends government for coming up with such an initiative because it has accrued benefits to both the employees and the nation at large, the move to send Zambians to work as drivers and maids in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait must be treated with a lot caution.
Mr. Mtayachalo has implored the Minister of Labour and Social Security Joyce Simukoko to shade more light on this matter further expressing fear that Zambians maybe mistreated while in the Diaspora especially women who are very vulnerable to all sorts of vices such as being subjected to inhuman working conditions.
“We are alive to the fact that the Arab States Region is one of the main destination regions globally employing more than 18 million migrant workers, and the number has continued to increase substantially in recent years”, he said.
Mr. Mtayachalo said the Gulf States Region is undoubtedly accounting for over $109 billion in terms of remittance outflow to many developing countries including Africa however according to the International Labour Organisation report, many of these migrant workers who are manual labourers or domestic workers who face a number of decent work challenges.
“Further the Human Rights Watchdog and the US State department have cited widespread abuses in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states which could be described as modern day slavery as there are documented and horrifying scenes of these abuses which include assault, sexual harassment and exploitation of migrant workers just to mention a few especially from Asia and Africa regions”, Mr. Mtayachalo said
He said furthermore, in May last year, Amnesty International released a report which strongly criticised Qatar and other Gulf States for abuses of migrant workers ranging from excessive working hours and continuously working without day off and this notorious working culture is very common in many Gulf States Region.
Mr. Mtayachalo said Mrs. Simukoko must therefore state whether the concerns in regard to working conditions for Zambian migrant workers destined for UAE and Kuwait will adequately be addressed in their work contracts through bilateral agreements and Memorandum of understandings clauses between Zambia and the host countries and further if such contracts are in conformity with the International Labour Standards in accordance with ILO conventions 97,98,143 and 189 for domestic and other migrant workers respectively.
He said these International set labour standards were adopted at the 3rd ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi and the Fair migration Agenda meeting in Kuwait in 2014 which include addressing poor working conditions and substantial Occupational and Health Standards issues, strengthening Labour inspection in migrant intensive sectors such as construction and domestic work, discrimination in minimum wage structures based on countries of origins, limited access to justice, weak and inefficient dispute settlement mechanisms among several others.
Mr. Mtayachalo said it is in light of these critical issues that as a responsible political party which values the welfare of Zambian workers, FDD would be very delighted if such salient issues are addressed seriously before Zambians can be allowed to take up jobs in foreign lands in order to protect them from unjust labour practices.
I support the idea too.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
All these contracts or MoA do not hold water. Once you sign the contract, you are now a possession of your employer in a system called Kafala. They are free to do anything to you. They take away your phone, your passport. You work 24/7 with no day off and don’t get paid till the end of the contract. At which point, you are not even guaranteed the monies agreed upon in contracts.
Those sand niggers are evil!
What is wrong with Zambian leaders mwebantu? This idea should not be treated with caution, it should NOT happen at all, full stop.
It is a fact that most slaves were the worst in society. Even us found fork tales or even grandfathers telling us that they could have sold us into slavery if we:
– dull in school or fail termly exam
– steal eggs
– fight, especially if lose a fight
I mean maybe selling off those PF cadres will be good for Zambia, especially election campaigns.
Sell those thugs into slavery to middle east.
If you know anything about Islam you wouldn’t send anyone there. People from the Far East and places like India and Pakistan, complain about the mistreatment of those workers sent over there. They treat the workers like slaves which is permissible in Islam. It’ll be like sending someone into a lions den. If you know the teachings of MuhamMAD the false prophet of Islam you’d stay away. Christ is Lord
Ask the Kenyan Government what stories they got from their citizens who went to do similar jobs. They put you in any house keeping related job or other slave like jobs with no say once you get into a home in many of these middle Eastern countries. Know that you have no outside contact and if you are lucky to come into contact with the law enforcement people, they will never believe your story of semi-slavery cos they don’t want you to tarnish their country in the sight of the world.
Kindly read this quote and reflect, this may be an act of desperation to hoodwink people that jobs are being created, “Uganda is banning housemaids from traveling to work in Saudi Arabia after complaints of poor working conditions and mistreatment. A deal between the two nations had been signed in the summer of 2015 to send university graduates to the kingdom to work. The Ugandan government said it had received complaints from workers of being inhumanely treated by their employers in the oil-rich Gulf nation, according to the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Welfare, as cited by Reuters”.
Talking about Arabs. They don’t care or respect chifita. They are the ones who were going inland to capture slaves and sell them to waiting whites on the coast. White men never went inland to capture slaves but Arabs did that for them.
Don’t try, Mukaya mukuba abasha. Lwenu!
If you want to end up like Jamal Khashoggi, go to the Middle East
Good idea, if you can not provide jobs for people locally best to send them abroad. The UK is crying for Nurses, why doesn’t Govt send Nurses to the UK so that these nurses can remit some cash back home.
Afrika will remain at the bottom of human society and very poor amidst plenty for as long as we continue to put corrupt, murderous savages and spiritually lost elements into office. Wake up Afrika, reclaim your mind from European junk and this life will be yours again.
Instead of sending normal law abiding citizens I would advise to send PF cadres, Jarabos and prisoners in exchange for oil.
The move to send Zambians to work as drivers and maids in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait must be treated with a lot caution.
What caution? This is madness by PF thieves.
Only fools will go to be slaves.
Southern African countries did not experience slave trade because some of these countries are landlocked,now you politicians want to introduce slavery in Zambia? Shame.kabiyeniko imwe bene.
Who came up with this idea? How ignorant and naive can you be Zambia. Arabs and Africans don’t mix well. Especially us bantu Africans. In fact i watched a report on bbc that indicated those people preferred light skinned Africans from Ethiopians and Eritrea. The darker you are, the more mistreatment you get.
It is not complimentary that Gulf countries want maids and drivers from Zambia. These same countries are publishing adverts and have restricted the recruitment of teachers to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. This is how low African countries are in their estimation.
immediately you arrive , your passport is taken away. work starts right away, you will be as a maid working in all your boss` brothers, sisters and parents` houses. .you will sleep at 01 and wake up at 03 to start work. for the first three or even more months you will see no salary, you wont be allowed to leave the house ,not at all. be ready to be a sex slave to the boss, and to the sons of the boss, and if your boss`s wife finds out your head will be chopped off. if you don`t have proof of those abuse such as a video clip don`t go to the police because the matter will be worse for you,and if you approach wrong police officers on such issues things will even be more dangerous for you. My suggestion to those of our sisters especially, who would want to go for such jobs in those countries…
…is that PUT BACK THAT PASSPORT IN THE DRAWER AND TRY SOMETHING ELSE ,abalungwana basumina mu busha ukaitwala ku busha. Our embassies will not help or atleat by the time the y will respond it will be already too late
Only some body who does not care about himself/herself will go to the Middle east for the so called work and should complain back home when things turn sour. “Mukula mbulu”