UEC, other religious organizations to pray against migrant workers’ mistreatment

By Francis Jjunju

5^th Sept 2022

The Uganda Episcopal Conference-UEC together with other partner organizations has organized a national prayer to create awareness and promote the rights and dignity of the victims of human trafficking.

The prayer that is open to all people is to take place this Friday, September 9^th 2022 at Kololo Ceremonial grounds starting at 9am and will be presided over by the Archbishop of Gulu, His Grace John Baptist Odama.

According to the Head of Laity at the Uganda Catholic Secretariat-UCS, Fr. Alfred Tusingwire, many are not taking match cognizant about the current mode of human trafficking and in Uganda the challenge of unemployment is forcing many to willingly seek for jobs in Arab Countries where they have faced all sorts of abuse.

Fr. Tusingwire says many of the Ugandan girls have failed to realize the intended objective of these recruitments which are involving abuses, killings and harvesting of body organs that are even not responded to by the government.

It is against this background that UEC together with John Paul II Justice Peace Centre, the Association of the Religious in Uganda- ARU, Uganda Joint Christian Council -UJCC, Inter Religious Council of Uganda- IRCU and African Faith Justice Network- AFJN have joined to pray and let the public know the missing leak in the labour externalization that has turned into trafficking in persons and exploitation of humanity.

It is estimated that an average of 300 to 500 Ugandan migrant workers left the country daily for work abroad between January and May of 2021.

They went mainly to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates-UAE, and Oman.

In August alone, 13,000 Ugandans, mainly domestic workers left for work in mainly the Middle East.