Amnesty International has called on the Kenyan government to ensure that its bilateral labour agreement with Saudi Arabia is rights-based and includes clear protection guarantees for domestic workers.
The protections should align with international standards and address key areas such as ethical recruitment, the employer-pays principle, working and living conditions, fair payment of wages, non-discrimination, dispute resolution, and access to justice.
The organisation made the appeal during the release of its new extensive report, "Locked In, Left Out: The Hidden Lives of Kenyan Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia." The report documents the experiences of over 70 women who previously worked as domestic workers in the Gulf nation. "Whereas the story may be familiar to many Kenyans, this is a significant piece of research that documents the testimonies of up to 70 women regarding the grueling, abusive, and discriminatory working conditions," said Amnesty International- Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton in Mombasa. "Much of what we have described in this report can amount to forced labour and human trafficking.
In many cases we have seen signs of what we would call modern slavery," he added.
