‘Hell in Kuwait,’ Malawian women cry for rescue: CHRR presses panic button 

A group of 30 Malawian girls  stranded in in the oil rich Kuwait country following confiscation of their passports have asked for Malawi government to  help them get back home.

“We are suffering. We are stuck and the number is increasing. Our government should help us return home quickly,” said one of the girls Martha Magola speaking on behalf of the group.

She said the girls are receiving inadequate food supplies as well as poor sanitation.

“This is hell on earth really,” she said

Malawi young women and girls of late have been trekking to Kuwait to seek both formal and informal employment in that oil economic driven State. However, the young women and girls have suffered abuse in the hands of the people from Kuwait.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Kasaila stated that there was no government-to-government agreement on  the current labour migration deals; hence, most of young people  going to Kuwait were doing so on their own.

But Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation(CHRR) has asked President Peter Mutharika led government to rescue the Malawian girls who are trapped.

CHRR’s executive director Timothy  Mtambo said  Malawi government has a duty to protect its citizens from abuse.

Mtambo said the women went to Kuwait in search of income due to widespread poverty in Malawi.

“No person can just leave her country for nothing. That is why we are reminding the State of its obligation to protect its citizens when they are in danger, these girls have suffered abuse in that land its time Malawi should engage Kuwait and send air tickets for the girls,” said Mtambo

Former president Joyce Banda and her People’s Party (PP) introduced the labour export initiative arguing, at the time, that it would go a long way in reducing unemployment among youths in the country.

Minister of Labour Henry Mussa said the DPP government is planning to cancel all the agreements to export more until the whole programme is reviewed.

According to the minister, there are no formal agreements between government and recruitment agencies exporting labour to Kuwait or to United Arab Emirates.

“We have reports that some individuals or agencies are recruiting people without formal agreements. There was just a memorandum of understanding between the People’s Party-led government and some agents that are recruiting people, especially the youth,” Mussa said.

A 2013 Amnesty International report revealed that most Malawians working in Arab countries as taxi drivers and cleaners are at the risk of being abused and exploited.

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