Internal affairs ministry has urged the parliament to impose a temporal ban on Kenyans to prevent them from travelling to Saudi Arabia.
According to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Macharia Kamau, the temporal ban should be imposed on the recruitment and exportation of Kenyans to Saudi Arabia until adequate protection measures are put in place.
Appearing before the parliament’s committee on Labour and Social Welfare on Thursday, Kamau said that his suggestion was informed by the rise in the numbers of Kenya whose lives are lost in the country and the calls of distress.
He noted that the ministry of labor should play a central role in the welfare and safety of Kenyans working abroad.
“It warrants bold and decisive action to curb further suffering of Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. It should not be seen to be condoning such high number of deaths and distress of citizens’ majority of whom are young and vulnerable women” he said.
Kamau further said that his ministry is informed of the plight of Kenyans only when it is too late.
He said that the Internal Affairs ministry raised concerns to the ministry of labor in July whereby they agreed to ban the travels to Saudi Arabia as a temporal solution to the plight of Kenyans in the gulf country.
He called for transparency in reporting cases of Kenyans who lost their lives or those living in distress particularly in gulf countries.
In 2021 alone, 41 Kenyans lost their lives while 1,025 others were reported to be in distress. 28 out of the 41 are domestic workers.
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