Kenyan domestic workers are not children of a lesser god

Those flying out of Kenya, transiting through the Middle East, may have seen scores of young, naive-looking women. Clearly first-time travellers out of their element, their faces radiate a mixture of emotions; joy and hope that they have escaped the biting poverty characteristic of some parts of rural Kenya. Sadness and fear because of loved ones left behind and the unknown that awaits them in distant lands.

These women are domestic workers looking for greener pastures in Saudi Arabia. The lucky ones will make it back home with tales of terrible living conditions akin to slavery. Others will be transported in the cargo holds of planes with their bodies bearing horrific evidence of torture. Still, others will be disposed of as unclaimed bodies in foreign lands never to be seen again by their kith and kin.

These are real stories. Many of them are too gruesome to be related in a family newspaper. Yet, the exodus to the Middle East continues unabated. In droves! An expose in the New York Times reveals the scale of decimation of Kenyan domestic workers overseas. It says, “at least 274 workers, mostly women, have died in Saudi Arabia in the past five years-an extraordinary figure for a young workforce doing jobs that, in most countries, are considered extremely safe. At least 55 Kenyan workers died last year, twice as many as the previous year.”

Response from authorities in Saudi Arabia is not only risible, it is outright contemptible. This is gleaned from the same New York Times expose which, concerning these egregious deaths, says, “autopsy reports are vague and contradictory, describing women with evidence of trauma, including burns and electric shocks, all labeled natural deaths.”

The government of Kenya has a duty of care for all citizens of the republic, even those outside the country. Kenyan domestic workers overseas are not children of a lesser god. Loss of Kenyan lives abroad without any precipitate action taken points to collusion between authorities in both countries to downplay these tragedies. But there are a number of measures that can be taken to ameliorate these.

The first is to look for a possible conflict of interest in authority figures. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some members of the Labour Committee in Kenya’s National Assembly are also owners of staffing companies that regularly send women to Saudi Arabia. Because they have skin in the game, they may not be trusted to carry out impartial investigations into worker deaths overseas.

The second is to enact legislation that forbids labour migration to these “death camps”; to allow them only under conditions that guarantee protection for Kenyan workers. It is unconscionable for Saudi employers to confiscate passports of Kenyan domestic workers, holding them to ransom in instances where working conditions are deplorable. Premium must be placed on both passport and holder. There is clear demonstration by the Filipino government that there is a correlation between increased wages and better treatment of workers.

A note in all Kenyan passports reads, “This passport remains the property of the Government of Kenya. It is a valuable document and should not be allowed to pass into the possession of an unauthorised person.” It is time to give teeth to these words.

Mr Khafafa public policy analyst.