How Labour CS nominee Florence Bore plans to curb mistreatment of Kenyans in Saudi Arabia

Cabinet Secretary (CS) nominee for Labour and Social Protection Florence Bore has shed light on how she intends to address the plight of mistreated migrant Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia should Parliament clear her to assume the docket.

Speaking when she appeared before Parliament's Committee on Appointments for vetting on Saturday, Bore noted that her first order of business would be to ensure that all migrant workers leaving Kenya for Saudi Arabia undergo mandatory pre-departure training and cultural orientation.

According to Bore, this will provide an opportunity to establish binding links between Kenya and Saudi Arabia since migrant workers will learn more about the culture and profiles of the people they will encounter abroad.

By learning the language and culture of Gulf States, Bore believes that migrant workers will gain an understanding of how to behave appropriately and this will enable them to get assistance from the locals if they find themselves in a tricky situation abroad.

"The other proposal is to ensure that there is pre-departure training for these workers. Some of them go to Saudi Arabia without basic skills. They don't even know the language so they can't communicate with their employers," she told the Committee.

"If they don’t go through this training they may not be able to do household activities, or also receive basic instructions and this might prove problematic. No Kenyan domestic worker should go out there without training."

She went on to reveal that Parliament has also set aside Ksh.60 million for the construction of a safe house in the Gulf State where Kenyan workers can seek sanctuary, in the event of abuse, as they await repatriation to Kenya.

Part of the Ksh.60 million, she added, will go towards hiring additional labour attachees to the Gulf State, noting that Kenya currently only has a single such official in Saudi Arabia.

"In Saudi Arabia we have one labour attachee that handles over 210,000 Kenyans spread across the State so part of that money will go towards employing about 10 labour attachees who we will station across Saudi Arabia so that they are able to handle any abuse cases," she said.

Bore also wants to establish regional representatives for the workers, whose contacts she says will be available to the employees once they arrive abroad so that in the event of abuse, Kenyans can report the matter to the reps who will then relay the same to the labour attachees for swift action.

"Another approach is the ministerial block that has been formed by the East African countries so  that we don't approach this issue as a country alone," she said.

"The other thing we need to do is streamline the National Employment Authority that does registration of the agencies taking people abroad. I am told these agencies are about 500 there could be gaps within those agencies and this is a matter that needs addressing."