With very limited employment opportunities in Kenya, most people choose to go work in Arab countries as they see this as the only ticket out of poverty.
In Kenya, 42 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line and this necessitates many women to risk abuse to send their desperately needed salary home.
It’s estimated that 100,000 Kenyans work in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Most of them work as domestic workers or do other menial jobs, with roughly one-third of this population being trafficked illegally to these countries.
However, the region is the most dangerous place in the world to find work for migrant domestic workers.
The Gulf has long been notorious for labour trafficking, with the 2.5 million-strong domestic workforce vulnerable to widespread physical, social abuse and having their passports and salaries withheld by their employers.
Amnesty International says workers in the Middle East often complain of a lack of payment, forced labour, physical abuse, rape, and dangerous working conditions.
Exposure to all these has led to many Kenyans suffering helplessly in foreign lands, while others lose their lives in unexplainable circumstances.
Under the recent new rules, if a Kenyan woman is abused, agencies must help them leave, with the cost of their rescue coming out of the Sh1.5 million (£11,000) bond that the agent has to pay to operate.
In the past 10 months, approximately 40 Kenyans died in Saudi Arabia, allegedly due to heart failure.
A recent finding revealed that these deaths are mostly caused by physical torture but covered by heart failure allegations since the Arabian government has no existing firm policies to protect foreign workers from abuse and mistreatment.
Reports of East African workers being raped and tortured across the region and videos of Kenyan women pleading for help after allegedly being abused by their employers saw the Kenyan government follow other countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines in banning its citizens from travelling to work in the Gulf in 2014.
Before, Kenyan recruitment agencies had no legal obligation to bring women facing abuse home.
Under the recent new rules, if a Kenyan woman is abused, agencies must help them leave, with the cost of their rescue coming out of the Sh1.5 million (£11,000) bond that the agent has to pay to operate.
The government also negotiated an agreement with Saudi Arabia to enforce a minimum monthly wage of Sh40,000 (£300).
However, despite the government’s claim that the Saudi government had agreed on a minimum wage, many workers still claim that they are earning as little as Sh18,000.
The Ministry of Labor should hold dialogues with the Middle East to enact strict policies to ensure the safety of its citizens in Arab.
The East African community, through coming together should campaign against the abuse of women in the Middle East and condemn deep-rooted racism that has claimed the lives of our people.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris