Government refutes Saudi Arabia slavery claims

By Ben Agina

The Government on Friday moved in to dispel claims that there exists modern day slavery on Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thuita Mwangi said in a statement that the Saudi Embassy in Nairobi has been co-operative and shown a lot of goodwill in working with the ministry to address problems faced by Kenyan workers.

Thuita noted that more than 100,000 skilled and semi skilled Kenyans are today working in the Gulf Co-operation Council states.

Saudi Arabia government, through their Ambassador to Kenyan Mr Ghorm Mallan asked Kenyan migrants seeking employment in the gulf state to ensure they deal with genuine recruitment agencies.

Mallan said his country has been working closely with the Kenyan Government to facilitate the travel documents of those who wish to travel to the gulf state.

In an interview at the embassy offices, in Nairobi, Mallan said Kenya and Saudi enjoy excellent bilateral relations, which cannot be dented by reports that Kenyan migrant workers are being harassed in Saudi Arabia. "The negative publicity our country continues to receive will not only hurt the two countries but deny Kenya the much needed foreign exchange from Diaspora remittance," said Malhan.

Mallan appealed to Kenyans seeking employment in Saudi Arabia to verify the authenticity of any employment contracts with the Ministry of Labour.

He said as a development partner to Kenya, Saudi’s main objective is to foster growth. Apart from financial and humanitarian assistance the Saudi government is committed to seeing Kenyan meets its millennium targets, which include providing jobs to its youths.

The ambassador released names of 50 recruiting agencies that Kenyans can contact whenever they are looking for job in Saudi Arabia. It is estimated that a total of 40,000 Kenyans are residents in Saudi Arabia.

Most of the Kenyan migrants earn their livelihoods as drivers, technicians, salesman, security guards, engineers, accountants, bankers and domestic workers.

In the last three months alone, the Saudi Embassy has processed more that 8,000 work permits for Kenyans, a huge escalation compared to the previous average of 17,000 permits every year.