Former Gichugu MP Martha Karua has urged Rwanda President Paul Kagame, Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), John Magufuli (Tanzania) and Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya) to act quickly and curb the menace of human trafficking in East Africa.
This comes after a Ugandan girl, who was allegedly trafficked to Oman, died after immense torture.
"Our countries need to do something about this may be an EA collective @PaulKagame @UKenyatta @KagutaMuseveni @MagufuliJP," stated Karua.
Doreen Karungi died earlier this week and was reportedly locked up with another Ugandan suffering from mental disorder.
[caption caption="Martha Karua"]
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In 2017, the Kenyan government tightened laws to ensure the safety of citizens going to work in the Middle East as domestic workers.
A progress report by the Ministry of Labour on foreign employment stated that hiring agencies will be required to furnish the government with quarterly returns on the persons they have enlisted within that period, their personal details and next of kin.
Former Labour secretary Phyllis Kandie revealed that the recruiting agencies were registered afresh after paying between Ksh500,000 and Ksh1.5 million as a bond to ensure that workers are not mistreated and the cash can be used to buy them tickets back home.
The government also signed a bilateral labour agreement with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are the major markets for low skilled migrant workers.
In April last year, three diplomats were sent to the Middle East to help resolve abuse Kenyans are reportedly suffering in Gulf countries.
A fresh crackdown on rogue employment agencies that have been facilitating travel to these countries was also launched around the same time.
[caption caption="Phyllis Kandie"]
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