Govt says will now help 20 Malawian girls stranded in Kuwait

Malawi government has made a change of heart that it will now help to repatriate home  20 Malawian girls stranded in that country following confiscation of their passports.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Francis Kasaila said the government is too broke to bring the  girls  taken out of abusing work places in Kuwait, saying relations should  to for their air tickets back to Malawi.

But Ministry of Foreign Affairs has since changed tune, saying they have courted their Kuwaiti counterparts to help bring back home the girls.

“Government is working hand in hand with Kuwait and processes for their repatriation is in process,” spokesperson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rejoice Shumba said.

“Malawi government cannot abandon its people there in Kuwait,” she stressed.

The girls who are alleged to have been trafficked  had their passports withheld.

Malawi government also deployed Minister of Labour, Henry Mussa to engage their Kuwait counterparts on the issue.

Government admitted that legal flaws in the current migration laws are fuelling unregulated export of labour due to a number of agencies which continue to be established.

“The gap in the laws of Malawi has made it easier for labour agencies to export labour in different countries without a clear legal framework to check on their operations as Malawi is still using old laws. It would have been easier for the government to control labour migration as it requires in other countries, which involves provision of national policies, law and regulations relating to immigration for employment and conditions of work,” reads another report dated May 17 2016.

Meanwhile, government has since issued a ban on all labour exports to the Middle East as Kasaila said there was no government to government agreement on the current labour migration deals with Kuwait.

Job Centre Limited managing director Trevor Kandoje said the government needs to regulate the job recruitment agencies.