Kenya to remove Middle East work ban

The Kenyan government aims to lift a ban it enforced in 2014, regarding Kenyans travelling to the Middle East to become domestic workers.

In order to revoke the ban next week, the government are creating strict regulations to replace it.

The Ministry of Labour published a progress report, dated 18 October, on foreign employment regarding the tightened laws.

The report states that hiring agencies are required to furnish the government with quarterly returns on enlisted individuals, their personal details and next of kin.

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29 agencies have already been vetted and registered by an inter-ministerial, allowing them to hire and place Kenyan workers abroad.

“The agencies have duly complied with the new regulatory framework,” is stated in the Ministry of Labour report.

The agencies paid between Sh500,000 (US$4,824) and Sh1.5mn ($14,472) as a bond to secure the safety and wellbeing of any workers, with the money being saved to purchase tickets back to Kenya if needed.

“A draft MoU on labour with United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also been initiated. Other bilateral labour agreements have also been initiated with the Oman, Lebanon, and Jordan. The overall objective is to sign bilateral labour agreements with all key labour destination countries,” is also written into the report.

“The ministry has developed a national labour market information system which is set to be linked with the labour market information system for migrant workers and diaspora.”