COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli has condemned the Ministry of Labour for ignoring the plight of migrant workers in the Gulf.
Atwoli called for the immediate cancellation of licenses of recruitment agencies that operate unethically in the country.
"Our government is not sensitive to the plight of these workers. We need them to stop sending our young men and women to Gulf to die because of money. You can be a poor but proud person in your country," he said.
The Cotu boss spoke on Thursday during a hybrid meeting on promotion of the rights of Migrant Workers.
He said that the Ministry of Labour should report to the president the actual facts about what is happening to Kenyans working in the Gulf.
"Doesn't the ministry tell the president during Cabinet meetings that we are losing Kenyans? We have no proper linkages in the gulf," he said.
Kenyan migrant workers have a presence in the seven Gulf countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia has notably been on the spot for majority of the cases of inhumane treatment and sometimes deaths to Kenyan domestic workers in the country.
Atwoli equated the treatment Kenyans working in the Gulf undergo to modern day slavery.
"Our young men and women are coming back from the Gulf in coffins, and we say that we are providing them with jobs. What kind of jobs are these?" he posed.
He said that a remedy should be given soon so that these deaths can be put a stop.
