The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has blacklisted Ugandans and Nigerians, The Observer has learned.
An insider at Uganda’s embassy in Abu-Dhabi said that effective October 6, 2022, no Ugandan or Nigerian will be allowed into UAE without a certificate of good conduct and about 5,000 Dirham (Shs 5.3 million) on their bank account.
The move, according to the source, is aimed at curbing criminality and illegal immigration. Recently, the UAE government offered free air tickets to all illegal migrants to return home. They were required to surrender to immigration authorities.
The UAE government deported over 600 Ugandans who had overstayed their welcome and had accumulated fines. The group was allegedly part of the over 1,000 Ugandans detained at Dubai Central Jail.
The group comprised 105 men, 500 women, infants, and pregnant mothers. Uganda has 100,000 legal migrant workers employed in UAE. Most Ugandans in UAE are doing odd jobs like housekeeping.
“The new guidelines apply to all Ugandans and Nigerians. Whether you are a tourist or a casual laborer or a housekeeper. You need to have Shs 5 million in your pocket to come to UAE; anything short of that, you remain home,” the source said.
This requirement might deal a death blow to local companies that take Ugandans to work in the UAE as domestic workers. Not many can afford to have at Shs 5 million on their accounts.
The insider source said the embassy was notified about UAE’s decision. “Ugandans and Nigerians had turned into crooks, conning people and sleeping on streets,” the source said.
Ronnie Mukundane, the spokesperson of the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), said the new directive applies only to visitors.
“The difference is that labor recruitment companies take Ugandans on employment visas. The blacklisted Ugandans and Nigerians are those who access UAE on a visit visa. If you say you are going for tourism, you must have some money to spend. UAE is deporting Ugandans who went on visit visas and over-stayed,” he said.
“If you are going to work, you must have an employment contract; so, you access UAE on an employment visa. The directive is not for us dealing in labor export,” he said.
Betty Amongi, the minister of Labor, Gender, and Social Development, didn’t pick up nor return our repeated calls. Recently, Ambassador Henry Mayega, Uganda’s consul general in Dubai, said Uganda signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the brotherly UAE government to streamline labor externalization and it will soon be implemented.
“We need to tighten controls on the companies that do labor externalization. The consulate is mobilizing the diaspora to do all manner of things that contribute to the development of Uganda,” he said.
The government of Uganda collects US$1.2bn (Shs 4.5 trillion) from Ugandans working abroad. The Middle East alone sends in $600m (Shs 2.2 trillion) and $200m (Shs 762 billion) from UAE.
Lawrence Egulu, the commissioner in charge of Employment Services at the ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (MGLSD), told The Observer that as of June 13, 2022, there were 235 licensed private recruitment companies.
Every two years, each company pays Shs 2m in license fees. Last year, the ministry of Gender suspended operations of 11 companies over forged training reports, renewal documents, accumulated refund claims from clients, forged Covid-19 results, and trafficking people, among others.
From 2019 to date, Uganda has registered 88 deaths of migrant workers, according to the Gender ministry. Of these, Saudi Arabia has the high- est number at 69. It is followed by the UAE and Jordan with five deaths each; Somalia with three, and Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain with two deaths each.
-The Observer-
Comments are closed.