How unemployment crisis drives Kenyans into death traps abroad

As Kenya marks Labour Day, the experiences of thousands of migrant workers expose a contradicting reality where the search for jobs pushes Kenyans to vulnerabilities, exploitation and even death.

While President William Ruto’s government has been exporting labour through the flagship initiative dubbed Kazi Majuu under Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, hundreds of Kenyans are suffering in foreign countries after being duped by recruitment agencies or exposed to abuses without any redress.

Over the past few years, the government has intensified efforts to export labour to address unemployment and boost foreign remittances.

However, behind the billions sent home by Kenyans working abroad are stories of exploitation, abuse, isolation and in the worst cases, death.

As of March 2026, President Ruto reported that more than 540,000 Kenyans have secured jobs abroad through the "Kazi Majuu" programme launched in June 2023.

But experts warn that weak systems and enforcement loopholes are leaving migrants dangerously vulnerable at every stage of the journey.

According to Crispin Kimani, advocacy lead on labour migration at the Centre for Domestic Training and Development (CDTD), the challenge lies in how labour migration mechanisms are implemented in Kenya.

“Labour migration will always happen and the only thing we usually advocate for is for safe and ethical labour migration pathways for Kenyans migrating abroad,” Kimani said.

“But now if you look at the current ambitious labour migration projects that the Kenyan government has undertaken, the rush that is there to migrate our Kenyans without proper structures to manage the whole labour migration cycle is exposing them to so many vulnerabilities,” he added.

He explained that these vulnerabilities do not just begin in destination countries but start at home and follow migrant workers throughout the entire process. “This vulnerability starts all the way, even from the recruitment to the travel, and even when they arrive in their countries of destination,” Kimani said.

“This vulnerability starts all the way from the recruitment to the travel and even when they arrive in their countries of destination,” Kimani said.

In a country where the labour market is constrained and wages remain low, migration is often driven by desperation. For instance, a domestic job in Kenya attracts a salary between Sh6,000 and Sh15,000, whereas in Gulf countries, which are labour migration destinations, the same job attracts a pay of more than Sh30,000.

“Our current economic situation as a country is not so good; it is difficult to secure jobs. Most of these domestic and care workers are earning less than the minimum wage. So when they get a very good job abroad, where they’re going to go and earn even three times what they’re earning right now, they take it only to be vulnerable,” he added.

Data shows the scale of labour migration and its risks. According to the International Labour Organisation, by 2017, the Arab States hosted about 23 million migrant workers, nine million of them women, many from Africa and Asia, including Kenya.

By 2025, more than 416,000 Kenyans were working in Gulf countries, with about 210,000 in Saudi Arabia, 60,000 in the United Arab Emirates and 40,000 in Qatar.

However, these opportunities come at a cost. According to Diaspora and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, at least 316 Kenyans have died working in Gulf states between 2022 and 2024.

Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number of deaths at 166, followed by Qatar at 58 and the UAE at 51.

Ironically, Saudi Arabia remains one of the leading sources of remittances to Kenya, even as it records high cases of abuse, exploitation and deaths of Kenyan workers.

For many, especially women who dominate domestic and care work, migration is less of a choice and more of a necessity despite the risks involved.

Out of desperation for jobs, some take out loans, sell family land or rely on well-wishers to raise recruitment fees and in many cases, promises made during recruitment differ from the reality on arrival.

There have been reports of Kenyan workers being forced to work long hours, their wages withheld, their travel documents confiscated and in some cases, subjected to sexual abuse, leaving them with little or no redress in foreign countries.

Advocate Lilian Nyangasi, director of Set Free to Thrive, said contract substitution is one of the most persistent forms of abuse.

“What they’re promised is not what they get. You are told you’re going for this job, paid a certain amount and in certain working conditions and working hours, but then when you get there, it’s a totally different thing,” she said.

“That is very common with these unscrupulous recruitment agencies and that’s how human trafficking manifests,” she added.

Nyangasi warned that human trafficking linked to labour migration is worsening. “It is in a critical state and it is evolving very fast and coming up in several dimensions. We are now seeing innocent job seekers subjected to forced labour, sex trafficking, organ removal and even forced criminality,” she said.

Nyangasi noted that women are disproportionately disadvantaged by labour migration and the resultant exploitation of human trafficking, citing the push factors surrounding women and making them very vulnerable or putting them at a higher risk than men.

“The nature and the profile of most of the women who are recruited into labour migration put them at a greater risk. Most of the women that we have repatriates or seek legal redress against traffickers are single mothers, which is an already vulnerable position they are in before being trafficked,” she argued.

While some migrants secure opportunities through credible and licensed agencies, others fall into the hands of brokers and traffickers posing as legitimate recruiters.

Without access to verification systems such as those run by the National Employment Authority, many workers rely on word of mouth or informal networks, leaving them exposed to fraud.

“Some can get looped at that particular point where they just pay a commission and never get the jobs or end up migrating with the hopes of getting work, but find themselves with human trafficking and forced labour situations where either they are working without any pay or with very minimal pay,” Kimani said.

Last year, the government rescued 78 Kenyans who were stuck in Myanmar after they were trafficked into scam centres. Earlier this year, reports emerged that more than 600 Kenyans were stranded in Cambodia after falling victim to false job promises.

Corruption within the labour migration system is also exposing Kenyan workers to exploitation, with reports that senior government officials and powerful individuals are involved in recruitment through proxies.

Sources in the sector say some politically connected figures own recruitment agencies through proxies, allowing them to influence processes and weakening oversight, where some workers are cleared to travel without proper verification or protection.

Nyangasi noted that migrant workers face major barriers in accessing justice once abroad. “The main limitation in foreign countries is the difference in legal systems because once someone is outside the jurisdiction or the forum of Kenya, then it’s very hard for them to enforce those rights,” Nyangasi said.

“They are not aware of where even the court forums or enforcement forums would be located… and there are several institutional barriers that would exist to prevent them from accessing enforcement mechanisms abroad,” she added.

In many cases, workers are isolated within private homes, particularly domestic workers, where oversight is minimal and abuse goes unchecked.

“The most common of abuses you’ll find is emotional abuse, where they are mistreated, they are abused. You might even find them in those modern-day slavery situations… where even the employers are withholding their pay. And now that makes it forced labour,” Kimani said.

He noted that movement restrictions and confiscation of documents are common. In more severe cases, the abuse escalates into violence. “They run away and the employer just says their contract is not valid, so now they are there illegally. We have a caseload of so many women who are stuck with children in the streets of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

“These children have not been registered and so they can’t leave the country. People have to go through a tedious process of trying to secure money for DNA tests. And in some cases, you might not even be allowed to leave with that child,” Kimani said.

Even for those who return, reintegration remains a challenge. “Some of them will come back, but they are still very vulnerable. They had possibly taken loans, but now they’re coming back home empty-handed without anything. They still have debts, and one of the most common things that they face is even rejection by their own family members,” he added.

Despite the existence of laws such as the Employment Act, the Constitution and the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act, enforcement and protection of workers’ rights remain weak and minimal.

Although there are ongoing plans to tighten regulations, including the establishment of a Directorate of Labour Migration Management and new verification systems at airports and exit points, Kimani said gaps remain, particularly in bilateral agreements.

He particularly pointed out the legal gaps in the Bilateral Labour Migration Agreement between Kenya and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a major contributor to the plight of Kenyans working in the country.

“That BLA in itself has a lot of loopholes. It is not well guided, particularly when it comes to the safeguarding aspect. It is more like facilitating our Kenyans to go and work there, but the protections are not as strong,” he said.

Failure by the Kenyan government to ratify the International Labour Organisation Convention C-189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and the International Labour Organisation Convention on Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work has also exposed Kenyans to abuse without legal protection.

The ILO Convention on Domestic Workers sets labour standards for domestic workers and guarantees decent work for domestic workers, declaring that they are entitled to the same basic labour rights as other workers.

In an advisory issued in 2024, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights wrote to the PS for Labour, calling for ratification of the two conventions as a way to strengthen protection mechanisms for Kenyan workers.

The Commission indicated that ratification of the law would protect domestic workers from unfair dismissal, poor remuneration and delayed payment, poor working conditions, including no leave days or rest days, and no compensation for work done overtime.

“Ratification of Convention 189 would further express a strong commitment by the state to address labour migration-related challenges, including the protection of domestic workers by private employment agencies,” the commission wrote to the PS.

“The State is urged to ratify the Conventions to safeguard domestic workers from exploitation by addressing key challenges,” the advisory reads further.

The advisory was sent after the release of the comprehensive study by the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) titled A Report on Systemic Investigation into the Plight of Kenyan Migrant Workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Ombudsman identified major violations subjected to workers.

They include passport confiscation, sleep deprivation, food deprivation, labour exploitation, imprisonment before detention, racism, religious discrimination, psychological abuse, physical abuse, movement restriction and sexual abuse.