In the Gulf 99% of Kenyan migrant workers are abused, a poll finds

What does Rebecca Nakabiito hope for as she prepares to leave Uganda for the first time? “To be treated as a human,” she says softly. “I don’t want them to treat me as a slave.” Like thousands of others she is heading for Saudi Arabia, to work as a maid. A friend who travelled before her was scalded with hot water as punishment for oversleeping. She will go anyway. There are school fees to pay.

Most migrant workers in the Gulf are Asian, but a growing number of east Africans are joining them. Last year 87,000 Ugandans travelled to the Middle East under the government’s “labour externalisation” programme. About that many Kenyans made similar trips. Official routes to the Gulf are distinct from irregular migration, such as the overcrowded boats that smuggle Ethiopians and Eritreans across the Red Sea. But they are not risk-free. Returning workers tell stories of racism, abuse and exploitation.