The\nMinister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Hon. Frank Tumwebaze has\ndirected external labour recruitment companies to rid their sector of unethical\nconduct and ensure that licensing conditions are strictly adhered to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\na meeting with the executive members of the Uganda Association of External\nRecruitment Agencies (UAERA) at his office on Tuesday, the Minister said he had\nreceived reports of some companies misusing their licenses to falsify\ninformation so as to accumulate money from potential recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\nshould desist from promising greener pastures that are nonexistent. Disclosure\nof information should also be done in full regarding state of jobs with details\nlike pay, conditions of work etc. to enable prospective employees make informed\ndecisions on whether to take up or not available opportunities.\u201d Hon. Tumwebaze\nnoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nmeeting was also attended by the Minister of State for Labour, Hon. Rukutana\nMwesigwa, the Director Labour, Martin Wandera and the Executive Director UAERA,\nEnid Nambuya among others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tumwebaze\ncautioned that to curb the non-response to distress calls from placed workers,\nthe recruitment companies will henceforth be held responsible for the entire\nprocess from departure to return of any Ugandan they take abroad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\nshall be requiring of them filed returns from time to time to enable Government\noffer Consular support.\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nsaid the licensing framework won\u2019t have any reprieve for companies that cut off\ncommunication with workers in times of distress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nchairperson UAERA, Mr. Baker Akantambira, welcomed the Minister\u2019s resolute\nefforts and expressed optimism that it would streamline the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nsaid some of their challenges included the low commission and high costs of\ndeployment, inadequate consular services, limited bilateral agreements with\ncountries in the destination areas, inadequate training for the recruits before\ndeployment and public perception about the companies which they deem to be\nengaging in human trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nappealed to government to sign bilateral agreements with more countries in the\nMiddle East and also open consular services in countries of destination so that\nemerging issues are responded to in a timelier manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nadvised that the pre-departure training be enhanced to acclimatize the recruits\nwith what to expect on arrival at their destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\ncalled for a special police unit for the externalization of labour to help\nstrengthen case handling as currently most cases are lost along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nalso implored government, specifically the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to\nreview the anti-human trafficking laws to ease prosecution of the vice\nperpetuators and also incorporate stringent penalties to deter other offenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister\nTumwebaze promised that more meetings would be held with other stakeholders to\nensure the safety of Ugandans who go to work abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Hon. Frank Tumwebaze has directed external labour recruitment companies to rid their sector of unethical conduct and ensure that licensing conditions are strictly adhered to. In a meeting with the executive members of the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA) at his office on Tuesday, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":14040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-14039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n