The Directorate of Citizenship and immigration control has revealed that many labor export companies are holding onto over 8,000 passports illegally.
These passports belong to people who want to work in mainly Arab countries. Most of the affected people are women.
According to Simon Mudenyi the spokesperson for the Internal Affairs Ministry, export labour companies have slowed down in business because of reports of mistreatment, internal organ theft, exploitation of those employed abroad.
Mundeyi says the ministry received complaints that these companies are withholding passports on grounds that they are awaiting contracts from employers.
“ Business of exporting labor reduced, so many girls who had applied have had their passports withheld. The companies claim they are waiting for contracts. We have received several complaints. A total of 8,000 passports are being held by labour exporters,” Mundeyi said.
As a requirement to export labour to the middle east countries, the government is asking these companies to show proof that they have contracts for jobs and appointment letters for the people they want to send.
They’ve also sent a team to Saudi Arabia to check if everything is safe for Ugandans there. This has caused delays because many companies didn’t have the right safety documents.
There are also complaints from people who paid money to work in the Arab world but haven’t been able to go yet. Some were asked to pay more money to get their passports back, even though they already paid once. This shows that there needs to be better rules to protect people who want to work in other countries.