The government has made plans to secure two safe houses in Saudi Arabia for Kenyan citizens working in the country.
Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui while speaking during the launch of a national job fair in Mombasa, reported that a budget of KSh.70 million has been allocated for the safe house project.
Moreover, the CS reported that the ministry is having talks with the Saudi Arabia government to see if they can donate a house for the government to revamp to be used by Kenyan migrant workers.
“We have been planning to get funds to finance safe homes. We wouldn’t want to see Kenyans stranded abroad but will be in safe homes. We will have a pilot project in Saudi Arabia, establish two homes but we will first start with one at Riyadh the headquarters and then Jeddah before we progress to other countries,” stated Chelugui.
Moreover, according to the CS, the government it its efforts to provide safety for Kenyans working abroad has partnered with international organizations. One of the Organizations is International Organization for Migration (IOM) Kenya where they will be able to moderate, reduce and standardize the way they treat both local and foreign workers.
“Recently we were in Geneva for an international labour conference and a number of conventions were discussed including migration of migrant workers. This convention will be cascaded to individual member countries and we will be able to domesticate, work with international organisations like IOM Kenya and ILO to ensure that we prevail on countries that we still experience abuses,” Chelugui reported.
During the Mombasa event, Chelugui, confirmed that Kenya releases approximately 1.2 million graduates. Out of this numbers, the economy absorbs 800,000 young graduates, whereas the remaining have to find ways and means of being absorbed both locally and abroad.
As such, in their quest for employment abroad, some have lost their lives while some have been abused.
“Through this job fair, we want to profile the issues and even sensitize job seekers and also those players in the sector on how we can deliver smooth, safe and orderly migration of Kenyan workers,” added the CS.
“Unemployment is one of the most challenging social issues in our country. We however urge our youth as they focus on foreign jobs, to also look inwards on what we can generate locally,” he said.
Furthermore, the Labour CS urged Kenyans seeking employment abroad to go through registered agencies and ensure they comply with the rules and regulations for smooth movement of workers.
Likewise, Chelugui noted that the government is responsible for ensuring Kenyans migrating to other countries for work are taken care of as stipulated by international labour standards
