Amnesty International denounces the « human trafficking » of Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia – Liberation
Isolation, verbal, physical and sexual assaults, racist words … The list of violence experienced by Kenyan house employees in Saudi Arabia is long. This is revealed by an Amnesty International report published Tuesday, May 13, to coincide with the arrival of Donald Trump in the kingdom. The NGO denounces a situation which « Probably similarly resembles in human trafficking ”,, While slavery was officially abolished in 1962 in this state of the Gulf. To support his remarks, Amnesty met 72 women during the year 2024, former house employees in Saudi Arabia and returned to Kenya. To date, there are around 150,000 Kenyan domestic workers in the country, mainly women.
The stories of all the victims interviewed by the NGO are alike: they wanted to flee economic difficulties in Kenya, where 40 % of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, recruitment agents let them believe that a better life awaited them abroad, a system that bears the name of « Kafala » And who binds foreign workers to employers who act as kinds of sponsors. Employees then become dependent on their patterns, who govern their entries and exit from the country, their right to obtain a visa, as well as the right or not to change jobs. Some go so far as to confiscate passports. In Saudi Arabia, 77 % of foreign workforce in the private sector is governed by the Kafala, a system that « Promotes exploitation » According to the director of Amnesty International Kenya, Irungu Houghton.
It was only by arriving in Saudi Arabia that employees discover an extremely difficult reality. They work 16 to 18 hours a day, have no leave or vacation and earn an average of 0.47 euros per hour. The majority of women interviewed by Amnesty say that they were not allowed to go out alone. « I had no freedom. I felt in prison ”, Tell Joy (1) to the NGO.
To this are added verbal, physical and sexual violence. « The employer’s children or wife called us »monkeys » Or « baboons”. Because we are black”, reveals Rosaline (1). Other victims say they have been treated as an animal or prostitute, due to their skin color. Among the testimonies collected, many women report having been victims of physical and sexual assaults. Judy (1) recalls the pressures of her master of the house so that she would be threats of rape. « He ended up raping me five times », she says to the NGO.
For the situation to change, Irungu Houghton is convinced that Kenya has a role to play “In the protection of domestic employees abroad. (The country) must collaborate with Saudi Arabia to ensure the protection of migrant workers by framing recruitment practices ”. In January, Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to introduce a national policy for the elimination of forced labor. According to Amnesty International, however, this is not enough because this policy « Lack of clarity as to the mechanisms necessary to guarantee its application and respect ».
(1) The first names have been modified.
