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{
    "id": 1525643,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525643/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 30,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The Government of Kenya has signed and is implementing three agreements with the West Asian countries. This include the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on recruitment of domestic workers, signed in 2017. The State of Qatar on recruitment of employment of workers, signed in 2012. The third agreement is with the UAE on labour cooperation, which was signed in 2018. Additionally, the agreements have been signed with Germany in 2024, with Austria in 2024 and the UK in 2021, for healthcare professionals. Negotiations are ongoing with 10 countries and we are looking forward for a positive feedback from them. The agreements loosely reflect the principles and standards of the key international framework, including the International Labour Organization Conventions on Decent Work, Fair Recruitment and Migrant Workers Protection, as covered by ILO Convention 97 and 143. Two, the United Nations Global Compact on Migration, which promotes safe, orderly and regular migration. Three, regional protocols such as the African Union's Migration Policy Framework, which emphasises migrant rights. I have just summarised on the written; (b) on monitoring and enforcement mechanisms which have been established with these agreements to ensure that recruitment agencies and employers comply with the provisions of fair wages. The Ministry has put in place the following monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that recruitment agencies and employers comply with provisions related to fair wages, humane working conditions, and access to legal recourse in cases of violation- One is the BLMAs as explained above. The BLMAs are very clear in the rights of the Kenyans and the work needed to be done by the agency that is sending them overseas. There is also provision of consular and attaché services to migrant workers. Since we took over, as the Kenyan Kwanza Government, have now reformed how the consulars work. We have posted labour attachés. We work with the ambassadors to make sure that Kenyans are free to go to the embassies to report any cases and ensure that everything that is attested goes through a system that complies with the law. For example, Mr Speaker, Sir, before any person goes out of this country, the employer has to provide what is called a demand, or say that we need this person to be employed. That demand has to be taken to the Kenyan embassy of the country where they live and they do due diligence to see whether that company exist. Does this organisation exist? Are these jobs real? When that is done, they attest and they stamp. That is sent now to Kenya; particularly to my Ministry and a national employment agency. That is where now an agency here is allowed to recruit. Therefore, we have been able to do away with fake jobs overseas by ensuring there is a system through our consular services to ensure a Kenyan goes to do a job that is existing. Furthermore, the whole process of taking people abroad means that even before they are recruited, the Ministry has to attest their documents. If a Kenyan claim to be an engineer, we will not allow him to leave the country as an engineer if he does not have documents to show that indeed he is an engineer. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}