The Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development has issued a warning to Ugandans stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic to beware of individuals who are using the pandemic to defraud people. The ministry says that these individuals have been purporting to offer a variety of services that include among others, repatriation, the rescue of migrant workers who have escaped from their employers, follow up on the sick migrant workers, and filing complaints with the Ministry.
“The said individuals/organizations have circulated registration forms calling upon migrant workers or Ugandans with relatives working in the Middle East to pay registration fees for services they offer. Other organizations collect money from relatives of distressed migrant workers and then file complaints with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development,” said James Ebitu the Permanent Secretary in a statement.
James Ebitu emphasized that the Ministry had not authorized or accredited any individual or organization to offer repatriation, rescue, follow up, monitoring, or any other service to Ugandan migrant workers in the Middle East.
“The Ministry calls upon members of the public that have relatives who migrated to work in the Middle East and are under distress or might be stranded due to the current lockdown to lodge complaints with the recruitment agencies that externalized the migrant workers and subsequently with the Ministry if no assistance is extended,” Ebitu said.
“Members of the public are therefore warned against registering and/dealing with these unscrupulous individuals/organizations. Whoever deals with them shall do so at their own risk,” he added.
