Kenya Workers Middle East USAGM
Metadata
- Kenya Workers Middle East USAGM
- May 5, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: KENYA WORKERS MIDDLE EAST (TV) HEADLINE: Kenya Trains Domestic Workers with Jobs in Middle East About Their Rights TEASER: PUBLISHED: Thursday 05/05/2022 8:35 am BYLINE: Victoria Amunga DATELINE: NAIROBI VIDEOGRAPHER: Amos Wangwa VIDEO EDITOR: PRODUCER: Marcus Harton SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, DLJ VIDEO SOURCE (S): All VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __ TRT: 2:45 VID APPROVED BY: BR TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[Kenyan authorities are training domestic workers who accept jobs in the Middle East about their rights after years of reported abuses there, including beatings, rapes, and deaths. Kenyan authorities say there have been at least 23 such cases since November, most of them in Saudi Arabia. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi.]] ((NARRATOR)) It’s been a year since Bernard Njenga learned his wife, Esther Thuku, had died in Saudi Arabia, where she had been a domestic worker for three years. He says Saudi authorities reported his wife had committed suicide at her employer’s home. But he believes the mother of four was murdered. ((Bernard Njenga, Widower) (Swahili 20 secs ) "Her body did not have any marks that would show that she had hanged herself, because there would be marks around the neck. It appeared the body had been buried because it was very dirty and looked like she had been stabbed on the left side. That wouldn't have been hanging at all." ((NARRATOR)) Kenyan authorities say that since November, at least 23 domestic workers have died while working in the Middle East. Most of those deaths occurred in Saudi Arabia, according to labor officials. Saudi authorities have reported that all 23 of those deaths resulted from cardiac arrest. In April of 2020, Amnesty International reported that Kenyans who have jobs as domestic workers in the Middle East often complain of lack of payment, forced labor, physical abuse, rape and dangerous working conditions. Now, Kenya is offering safety training for domestic workers who take jobs abroad. ((Edith Murogo, East Africa Institute of Homecare Management) English 17 secs)) "When you don't train them basically you are exposing them to a lot of exploitation and abuse. Part of the training also includes labor rights awareness. They have to know how to bargain and talk to employees about decent terms and conditions of employment." ((NARRATOR)) These are among the 30,000 Kenyans who migrate to the Middle East to find work each year. Kenyan authorities say they’re working with Saudi officials on labor law reforms. ((Simon Chelugui, Cabinet Secretary for Labor) English 26 secs )) ''We would want them also to upscale their law to protect workers and employers equally, not to discriminate and have the attitude of the employer is right - always. Number two is the pay is reasonable and commensurate to the work.” ((NARRATOR)) ((VOA GRAPHIC)) VOA reached out to the Saudi embassy in Nairobi for comment on alleged mistreatment and deaths of Kenyan workers. In an email response, the embassy said the kingdom does not condone illegal and ill treatment of anyone and said Riyadh is working with Nairobi to protect citizens from any offense. Meanwhile, officials say with an estimated two million young people graduating each year and only about 800,000 new jobs according to national figures, many Kenyans will continue to go abroad to find work. ((Victoria Amunga, for VOA news, Nairobi))
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: KENYA WORKERS MIDDLE EAST (TV) HEADLINE: Kenya Trains Domestic Workers with Jobs in Middle East About Their Rights TEASER: PUBLISHED: Thursday 05/05/2022 8:35 am BYLINE: Victoria Amunga DATELINE: NAIROBI VIDEOGRAPHER: Amos Wangwa VIDEO EDITOR: PRODUCER: Marcus Harton SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, DLJ VIDEO SOURCE (S): All VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __ TRT: 2:45 VID APPROVED BY: BR TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[Kenyan authorities are training domestic workers who accept jobs in the Middle East about their rights after years of reported abuses there, including beatings, rapes, and deaths. Kenyan authorities say there have been at least 23 such cases since November, most of them in Saudi Arabia. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi.]] ((NARRATOR)) It’s been a year since Bernard Njenga learned his wife, Esther Thuku, had died in Saudi Arabia, where she had been a domestic worker for three years. He says Saudi authorities reported his wife had committed suicide at her employer’s home. But he believes the mother of four was murdered. ((Bernard Njenga, Widower) (Swahili 20 secs ) "Her body did not have any marks that would show that she had hanged herself, because there would be marks around the neck. It appeared the body had been buried because it was very dirty and looked like she had been stabbed on the left side. That wouldn't have been hanging at all." ((NARRATOR)) Kenyan authorities say that since November, at least 23 domestic workers have died while working in the Middle East. Most of those deaths occurred in Saudi Arabia, according to labor officials. Saudi authorities have reported that all 23 of those deaths resulted from cardiac arrest. In April of 2020, Amnesty International reported that Kenyans who have jobs as domestic workers in the Middle East often complain of lack of payment, forced labor, physical abuse, rape and dangerous working conditions. Now, Kenya is offering safety training for domestic workers who take jobs abroad. ((Edith Murogo, East Africa Institute of Homecare Management) English 17 secs)) "When you don't train them basically you are exposing them to a lot of exploitation and abuse. Part of the training also includes labor rights awareness. They have to know how to bargain and talk to employees about decent terms and conditions of employment." ((NARRATOR)) These are among the 30,000 Kenyans who migrate to the Middle East to find work each year. Kenyan authorities say they’re working with Saudi officials on labor law reforms. ((Simon Chelugui, Cabinet Secretary for Labor) English 26 secs )) ''We would want them also to upscale their law to protect workers and employers equally, not to discriminate and have the attitude of the employer is right - always. Number two is the pay is reasonable and commensurate to the work.” ((NARRATOR)) ((VOA GRAPHIC)) VOA reached out to the Saudi embassy in Nairobi for comment on alleged mistreatment and deaths of Kenyan workers. In an email response, the embassy said the kingdom does not condone illegal and ill treatment of anyone and said Riyadh is working with Nairobi to protect citizens from any offense. Meanwhile, officials say with an estimated two million young people graduating each year and only about 800,000 new jobs according to national figures, many Kenyans will continue to go abroad to find work. ((Victoria Amunga, for VOA news, Nairobi))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date May 5, 2022 08:41 EDT
- Byline Victoria Amunga
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America