Shady agencies lure youths to Saudi despite ban

Shady agents are still luring and recruiting Kenyans to work as domestic workers in the Middle East even after the government revoked their licences.

Some Mombasa agencies are operating openly, with their posters and contacts plastered on office walls, even after Labour minister Kazungu Kambi revoked their licences. A building along Sheikh Jundani Road in Mombasa features such advertisements.

Agents continue to roam Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi streets searching for women to hire.

“I am paid Sh10,000 per person and this is how I provide for my family. I recruit women for 10 agencies based in Mombasa and Nairobi,” confessed an agent who identified herself only as Maimuna.

The hiring is going on even as more than 10 families have urged the government to help bring back their relatives who are stranded in the Middle East.

A family in Likoni whose relative is stranded in Saudi Arabia and had allegedly been forced to convert to Islam, is fasting and praying while seeking the government’s intervention to bring her back. Zawadi Juma travelled to Saudi Arabia in February and two weeks later her employers started mistreating her.

“She is a staunch Christian and very religious but her Bible was confiscated and burnt. She contacted us saying she had been forced to convert to Islam. We advised her to follow their rules in order to save her life,” said Charlotte Rehema Juma, her elder sister.
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Rehema said Zawadi called recently informing the family that she was planning to run away. “But she was found out and warned of dire consequences.”

Rehema said 29-year-old Zawadi was recruited by a neighbour with promises of a well-paying job overseas.

“She blinded my gullible sister together with her three friends and they made arrangements to travel in secret. How she acquired documents and travelled to Saudi Arabia is still a mystery to us,” Rehema said.

“She called us minutes before boarding a plane saying that she was going to look for greener pastures. She is working in a slum in Saudi Arabia for three different families. The only food she is given is black tea and a slice of bread per day.”

Zawadi had instructed her family to ensure that her body is brought back to Kenya for burial in case of death.

“It was a distress call; she was hysterical. ‘Please help us, we are traumatised and helpless.’ She said it was the last time she was calling us,” said Mohammed Juma, Zawadi’s brother, at the Nation office in Mombasa last week.

The woman who recruited the four is well-known and lives in Likoni. She has been accused of colluding with fake agencies in Nairobi and Mombasa to hunt for and recruit naïve girls.

“When we confronted her she said we should be thankful because she had helped find an overseas job for my sister. She said she had accomplished her mission by securing a job for her,” said Rehema, adding that the agent confessed to the family that she is paid Sh10,000 per person.

“Her documents were also confiscated by the employers. She called us saying that she was taken to a cold room as punishment for going out of the house. Since then we have tried reaching her in vain.” Their mother has become ill over the matter, said Rehema.

Ms Brenda Caro travelled to Lebanon on June 24 after being recruited by a Mtwapa-based agency and it wasn’t long before her employer started molesting her.

“We are tormented when we read about how Kenyan workers are mistreated in foreign countries. President Uhuru Kenyatta should help us,” said Mary Onyango, Caro’s relative.

Johnson Kapombe, a health officer at Mwaluphamba dispensary in Kwale, said that his daughter Esther was hired in Saudi Arabia in September but her employer alleged that she had stolen a chain and detained her.

“She is now in police custody. She called saying that her boss was mistreating her. She was beaten and contemplated running away but she was found and detained, I don’t know what to do,” he said.

Winnie Nyawira wrote in the Daily Nation recently that her sister had been stranded in Saudi Arabia for five months. Ms Nyawira said that her sister was recruited by Bintalib International Ltd, a Nairobi-based agency located along Kaunda Street.

She was duped that she would work as a house help in Dubai but ended up in Saudi Arabia. She has been complaining of being beaten, denied food for several days and a heavy workload, said Nyawira. Bintalib offices have since been closed.

“I met the Bintalib boss before they closed down and he promised to let me know the status of my sister.

Received no answer

“I kept calling but received no answer. The phone has since gone out of service. Please help my sister come back,” said Ms Nyawira.

According to Mr Fahad Changi, a rapid response officer at Muslim for Human Rights Organisation, five people are still stranded in Riyadh.

“Pili Ali Charo, Alice Mapenzi, Twahil Abdhallah and two others are still in Riyadh,” said Mr Changi.

A few weeks ago, a family in Kilifi buried a relative who died in unclear circumstances in Saudi Arabia four days after arrival.
The family of 32-year-old Rachael Kuto Vidzo was informed of her death five months later. Her mutilated body arrived for burial a few weeks ago. The family wants the body exhumed and a post mortem carried out to ascertain the cause of the death.

Speaking on behalf of the family at NMG offices in Mombasa, Mr Julius Katana, a relative of Kuto, said the family had recorded statements at Marikani Police Station on the matter.

“We buried her without breasts, tongue, private parts and both eyes had been mutilated. She died in a foreign country and we were not involved in the postmortem. We want the body to be exhumed and a postmortem carried out to ascertain the cause of the death. We are suing the agent,” said Mr Katana.

According to her death certificate the cause of death was a “fall during work” but it was not indicated why some of her body parts were missing.

Mombasa county commissioner and security committee chairman Nelson Marwa recently warned the public of a new recruitment syndicate which was targeting unemployed youths. He said that some buildings in Mombasa were being used to host women seeking employment in the Middle East. He called on police and intelligence service officers to deal with the syndicate.

“Brokers are luring our girls to go and work in Saudi Arabia. They are also making passports for them faster. That is why I have instructed Immigration officials to act,” he said during a security meeting in his office recently.

He urged officials dealing with issuance of birth, travel, death and identification documents to help root out the crooks. This comes at a time when the government has revoked licences of employment agencies which will undergo vetting before being allowed to operate.

According to findings of human rights group Haki Africa, 20 Kenyan women are still stranded in Riyadh, 16 in Jeddah, two in Lebanon and 10 in Dammam (Saudi Arabia).

Sexual harassment

“More than 100 are in police cells over issues like physical assault. The majority are tired of working and want to come back.
One hundred girls have complained of sexual harassment and indecent assault by their male employers; allegations of rape have also been leveled against hosts,” said Ms Salma Hemed, a gender rights coordinator at Haki Africa.

Among the issues raised include poor working conditions, denial of freedom of worship, breach of contract, inaction by recruiting agencies, confiscation of personal effects, false imprisonment, physical abuse and inadequate food.

“In December 2010, 21-year-old Khadija Omar Masoud died under unclear circumstances in Saudi Arabia after complaining to her family that her life was in danger. In 2011, Mwanahisi Mwitani was found by fellow workers stashed in a freezer. Her body has not been brought back to Kenya to date.’’

An official from the Joint Kenya Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged relatives of people stranded in the Middle East to forward their details to his office in Nairobi.

“We want to rescue any Kenyan living in oppression in the Middle East. Last month we rescued four women from Mombasa. Women in such countries are not allowed to walk out and Kenyans don’t know the laws. The problem is that they use short cuts to go to host countries. When travelling, please follow laws,” said Mr Issa Juma, a clerk with the body.

He urged the Immigration office to scrutinise documents of people bound for the Middle East.

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