The National Assembly has approved a Sh304 million budget to establish a safe house in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The safe house will be used to accommodate and host Kenyan migrant workers who suffer inhumane treatment by their employers.
The proposal for a safe house in the Gulf state came following rising cases of Kenyans, especially domestic workers, being subjected to harassment leading to injuries and deaths.
In a report tabled at the National Assembly, the MPs who sit in the Budget and Appropriations Committee also acceded to the requests by the departmental Committee on Social Protection that will also help in the expansion of labour attaches officers as per cabinet approval.
“The budgetary allocation for establishing a safe house in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and operating expenses related to fact finding mission for the Ministry of Labour delegation to Saudi Arabia, be prioritized to have the ministry undertake critical oversight of labour issues affecting Kenyans living in Saudi Arabia,” states the report.
MPs also want the fast-tracking of the Labour Migration Bill and policy to address the issue of mistreatment of Kenyan migrant workers in the Gulf region.
The Bill, which seeks to reinforce existing legislation on labour migration and accord additional protection to migrant workers is aimed at strengthening the existing labour migration laws to offer more protection to migrant workers.
