Monday, July 17, 2017

Migrant workers from Africa (part two of a series)

This is part two of the MigrantRights series about recruiting migrant workers in Africa (Uganda).

a lot of the worker are untrained, and many are abused. The gov't tried to stop recruitment of maids but people went anyway.

I wonder if the African maids are being recruited because the wages of Filipina maids has gone up?

Women are especially vulnerable to abuse: Pinay maids report they enjoy working with families in the Middle east because the families are religious and have a lot in common (albeit the religions are different). Filipino history has many Muslim/Arab roots in it's culture, and we have a long history of village women working as maids before marriage, and they are part of the family.

But African culture is different:

Acclimatising to life in the Gulf continues to be a big problem for Ugandans, who are used to a rather vibrant, community-based lifestyle. Proper pre-departure training will align expectations with reality.

Read the whole thing. The lack of opportunities in Africa are one reason that half a million African "migrants" are trying to get into Europe.

and of course it's not just Uganda and the Middle East: Ten percent of Zimbabwe's population have migrated elsewhere to send money back to support their families thanks to Mugabe's kleptocratic socialism. Many have gone to South Africa, causing resentment there, since many have more education than locals and are willing to work for lower wages. So it's not just "racism".

Summary:Africa needs jobs.

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