A Report on systemic investigation into the plight of Kenyan migrant domestic workers in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Following several media reports highlighting the mistreatment, injustice and oppression of Kenyan domestic workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) conducted a systemic investigation to interrogate the shortfalls in the measures put in place by the Kenyan Government to protect Kenyan migrant workers. Particularly, the investigation sought to examine the existing labor policies, processes and procedures relating to the recruitment and management of Kenyan migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. CAJ investigators conducted interviews with officers and gathered documents from the Ministry of Labor, National Employment Authority (NEA),National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), Commissioner of Labour, Ministry of Foreign affairs, Directorate of Immigration Services, Association of Private Employment Agencies and some domestic workers who were returnees from Saudi Arabia. Investigators analyzed the documents gathered and also conducted extensive desktop research on the issue under investigations. The Commission’s investigations established that some Kenyan migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia experienced various forms of abuses, and that the recruitment and management of Kenyan migrant workers was undertaken in a disjointed manner by the stakeholders who work independent of each other. Investigations also found that there was no accurate data on migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and that the legal framework currently available is weak. In light of these ndings, the Commission has proposed a range of recommendations that include the establishment of a multi-agency working platform for all the stakeholders and made additional suggestions to be included in the draft Labour Migration Management Bill that is meant to provide a national legal framework for the recruitment and management of migrant workers in Kenya.