Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, Hon. Betty Amongi has set condition for resumption of labour externalisation as she meets Association of recruitment agencies in Jordan.
STATEMENT BY HONOURABLE HON. BETTY AMONGI ONGOM AT THE MEETING WITH THE RECRUITMENT AGENCIES ASSOCIATION OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN TO UGANDA
Our Hosts at the Recruitment Agencies Association (RAA),
Other invited Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for the welcome. I am glad to lead this delegation to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan – my very first as Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
You will recall that my predecessor was here in October 2018, and thereafter your own follow up visit to Kampala a few weeks later. My mission here is a follow up to the implementation of the Bilateral Labour Agreement signed between our two friendly countries on 8th November 2016, and automatically renewed.
We deeply appreciate the warm hospitality accorded to my delegation by the Government, the Recruitment Agencies Association (RAA) and all the friendly people of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
My government recognizes the benefits of the bilateral labour agreement that we signed. It also goes without saying that both Ugandan and Jordanian companies have benefited from this deployment.
We thank you for the employment opportunities they provide to Ugandans.
Inform you that Government of Uganda introduced the External Employment Management Information System (EEMIS) under which all externalization of labour processes are handled online. Therefore, Jordan recruitment agencies will have to enroll on this system for them to be able to recruit Ugandan migrant workers.
Under the EEMIS, all recruitment agencies in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan interested in recruiting Ugandan migrant workers must be accredited by the Uganda Embassy after inspection of their office premises. Henceforth, all job orders have to be submitted through the EEMIS for vetting and approval by our Embassy in Riyadh and Ministry respectively before recruitment is done.
I would also like to informed you that my government passed new Regulations which require licensed Jordan recruitment agencies to partner with Ugandan recruitment agencies for purposes of recruitment and deployment of Ugandans in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. I am glad to share these with you, as this new legislation streamlines the external employment landscape by ensuring that is it safer, more humane and dignified.
In the area of training, all the Ugandan migrant workers must undergo a mandatory pre-departure orientation in Uganda before being deployed to Jordan and must undergo post arrival orientation once they reach Jordan before deployment to employers.
Under the same Regulations, Tours and Travel companies are prohibited from recruiting and deploying Ugandan migrant workers to Jordan, as this would be a conflict of interests.
You will recall that there remain pending issues which led to the suspension of deployment of Ugandans to Jordan in 2019. Let me remind you of these matters: -
- Cases of refusal and failure to pay salary on time,
- denial of adequate and appropriate food,
- denial of sleeping facilities,
- absence of shelters for domestic workers,
- denial of communication home due to inaccessibility to phone simcards,
- denial of time off,
- denial of appropriate care during extreme weather,
- working in multiple houses,
- allegations of verbal, physical and sexual abuse,
- allegations of confinement in houses under lock and key,
- exposure to corrosive substances without personal protective gear
- confiscation of travel documents,
- forceful renewal of contracts which leads to overstays,
- default in payment of service fees to the Ugandan recruitment agencies
While these might seem to be unsurmountable, they have continued to taint the image of the industry.
We remain particularly saddened by the continued detention of Ms. Janet Kayesu who remains in detention despite serving her sentence. It is a miscarriage of justice and we call upon you to prevail upon the authorities to ensure her release as well as for those who are in similar legal predicaments.
Friendship is like a tree in the dessert. It must be watered if it is to flourish. This is an opportunity to exchange knowledge on how we can improve the management of the deployment of Ugandan workers to Jordan. Our aim is to ensure safe and productive labour externalization – which our two governments should work together to promote.
Since the signing of the labour agreements with the HKJ, the Joint Technical Committee was never constituted, and therefore there was never any sitting to review how the implementation is progressing, much as was stipulated in the MoU. This limited the continuous monitoring and evaluation of the MoU, to ensure that the agreement so signed are on track, and/or the necessary corrective measures are taken in time.
When we met the Secretary General at the Ministry of Labour, we agreed to immediately constitute the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) as provided by the Bilateral Labour Agreement signed in 2016. This is the best mechanism to address the above issues before deployment of Ugandans to Jordan can resume. We call on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to name its side of the JTC.
Furthermore, following the signing of the bilateral agreement, the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies of Uganda your Recruitment Agencies Association also signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which only members of the two associations who are licensed in their respective jurisdictions would participate in the externalization of labour programme.
The renewed relationship between the Ugandan and Jordanian recruitment agencies must clearly spell out such terms and conditions for their relationship, including fees payable to Ugandan companies, terms of contracts for migrant workers, salaries and wages, among others.
We have however noted that some Jordanian recruitment companies are dealing with unlicensed Ugandan companies yet we regularly supplied updated lists of Ugandan licensed companies. The workers who are recruited by illegal agencies are never trained and therefore fail to adjust to the work requirements.
A number of complaints continued to the leveled about the breaches of contracts between RAA and UAERA members. That’s you owe Ugandan companies lots of money in unpaid fees. These are matters that need to be worked on for the good of our two countries. For instance,
All unpaid wages should be settled;
The recruitment company should follow up to ensure that migrant workers should be provided with proper accommodation, especially the cold winter or hot summer, like clothing air conditioning or heating;
The Ugandan migrant worker should receive post-arrival training, especially on occupational safety and health to avoid incidences of injury through exposure to corrosive substances, especially detergents; and
Recruitment companies and employers should provide adequate health insurance to all migrant workers in the event of sickness, injury or death.
As we move forward, I would like to request the Jordanian Recruiting Agencies Association to explore employment opportunities in other sectors such as agriculture, textiles, manufacturing for Ugandan workers, and not only limit our relationship to domestic work, which as you have experienced is fraught with major challenges.
we therefore look forward to hearing from you as we strengthen our relations further.
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