KAMPALA: Under the umbrella of the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), external labour recruit firms have called for the establishment of a special police unit to handle crime related to their sector.
UAERA members say that the general police don’t have enough officers who know how to investigate crimes in their field, so they end up arresting their own people without proof. They met with officials from the Gender, Labor, and Social Development Ministry in Jinja city on Wednesday.
According to UAERA chairperson Baker Akantambira, there is a need to establish a special police unit that is well-versed in labour externalisation legal frameworks in order to avoid harassment of their members, the majority of whom are prosecuted without conducting necessary investigations.
Akantambira stresses that most police officers are found to classify all external labour recruiters as perennial human traffickers before carrying out investigations.
Derrick Orone, the Gogonyo County MP who also serves as the CEO of Rokas recruitment agency, claims that while some external recruiters engage in illegal activities, the government has frequently signed bilateral agreements with countries where labour is externalized, and that these agreements should serve as the foundation for protecting Ugandan migrant workers abroad.
Orone wants the government to deploy liaison officers mandated to address the challenges raised by migrant workers within their host countries, which he says will reduce the cases of criminality being orchestrated by some labour export companies.
Charles Engola, the Gender and Labor Affairs State Minister, says that it is the responsibility of the state, hosting countries, and external recruitment agencies to ensure that Ugandan migrant workers are safe and not exposed to ill-treatment while abroad.
When he spoke, he said that the gender ministry will meet with more board members of UAERA and their counterparts from the Internal Affairs Ministry to find out whether there is enough crime in these companies for a special police unit to handle.