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{
    "id": 948259,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/948259/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 358,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Prof.) Jacqueline Oduol",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 856,
        "legal_name": "Dennitah Ghati",
        "slug": "dennitah-ghati"
    },
    "content": "work being used to legitimise very inhuman ways of dealing with Kenyans. Some of the women who choose to go out there do it on their own volition and it does not cause an issue. One of the key issues that came out clearly in the Report is that there are benefits when we have migrants or Kenyan workers going outside the country and, in particular, going to Saudi Arabia. This came out clearly in the Report. There is a way in which the migrants ease unemployment and intensify bilateral trade. It is important that as we look at the labour arrangements, we also look at the manner in which we will protect Kenyan interests. Looking at the Report, I do not see the specific bilateral labour arrangements that clearly establish stringent measures that would protect the Kenyan worker. Instead, the Report is telling us what would be the regulation of the laws in Saudi Arabia. Our interest was not to look at what the law is in Saudi Arabia, our interest was to establish the welfare of workers. Even as we respect the bilateral arrangements and recognise that we have to balance the two, we would have liked to see the particular proposals. That is our main concern. We needed to hear of the stringent measures that have been put in place to protect Kenyan migrants. According to officials in the Kenyan diaspora and a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two to three migrants are killed in the Middle East. It is not as if we do not have information that we could then use as a basis for ensuring that any report that is written then helps us to determine whether particular claims are mere allegations or not. The reports could as well be as a result of research done by people who were not on the ground and who might have just been listening to stories. We would, therefore, like to see in this Report a clear indication of the status of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. In the Report, there was mention that the challenges arise because the people who go to Saudi Arabia rely on brokers. There could be people who are in deportation camps. My concern is that the Report did not tell us more on that matter. If there are Kenyans in the deportation camps, what is their status? Why were they placed in those camps? How do we ensure that their welfare is looked into? If there are brokers, what is it that can be done from our end and in terms of a bilateral arrangement with Saudi Arabia to ensure that this does not get established? I thank the Committee. I recognise that it took its time to look at this because it set very clear objectives. However, there is information that still seems to be hanging because there are various forms of abuse, including people being killed. There are many cases where Kenyan migrants are faced with breach of labour laws. They get exposed to unlawful treatment. The objectives that were set could have been addressed better in this Report. Therefore, based on those grounds, I reject this Report. I do not support it."
}