Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143) - Uganda (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report has not been received since 2017. In light of its urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2020, the Committee proceeds with the examination of the application of the Convention based on the information at its disposal.

Part I of the Convention. Migration in abusive conditions. Basic human rights of all migrant workers. The Committee notes that Uganda is one of the country hosting the highest number of international migrants in East Africa: 1.7 million in 2020 according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs – (UN DESA, 2020a). The instability of the region, the porosity of the international borders, the lack of economic opportunity, the expectation to find better livelihood opportunities elsewhere are major migration drivers in the region. According to the Uganda Migration Governance Profile (International Organisation for Migration - IOM), the legislation currently governing migration in Uganda is fragmented and there is no comprehensive policy or framework driving migration governance. Existing legislation focuses on the rights of Ugandan nationals working abroad and could be strengthened to address the rights of immigrants living in Uganda. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to ensure that migrant workers basic human rights are respected on its territory, whether or not they are in a regular situation. It also asks the Government to provide updated information on migration flows, including statistical information disaggregated by sex, by sector, by nationality, by country of origin and country of destination.

Ugandan migrant workers. The Committee takes note of the information included in the Report “Women's labour migration on the Africa-Middle East corridor: experiences of migrant domestic workers from Uganda” (hereinafter the Women’s labour migration report). According to this report, Ugandan migrant workers often find themselves in situations where they are highly vulnerable to abuse or ill-treatment. The report contains testimonies of exploitation, including sexual and physical abuse, withholding of salaries, overwork, work in multiple households, limited rest, and poor living conditions. The Committee notes that the report indicates that local and foreign recruitment agencies often play a central role in perpetrating violence and abuse against migrant domestic workers. In this regard, the Committee notes that the Uganda Migration Governance Profile indicates that the country has put in place an elaborate institutional framework to implement its migration policy, for example: (1) the National Citizenship and immigration Board and the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC), within the Ministry of Internal Affairs are responsible for border Management, the issuance of visas, processing citizenship, applications and deportations; (2) the Diaspora Services Department is the dedicated government agency responsible for engaging with the Ugandan diaspora; and (3) the National Coordination Mechanisms on Migration (NCM) – established in 2015 to strengthen coordination of migration actors in member states of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – led by the Office of the Prime Minister and comprised by key government agencies, international organisations, migration-related civil society organizations, and members of academia. The Committee notes from the IOM Uganda Annual Report 2020 that, an IOM Labour Mobility and Human development unit was established in consultation with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) and the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), which was able to secure funding : (1) to bolster ethical recruitment policies and practices to enhance safe and orderly labour migration pathways, prevent exploitation and better protect migrant workers from Uganda; (2) to contribute to the development of a national Labour Migration Policy and review of the existing bilateral labour migration agreement; and (3) to enhance capacities on labour migration data collection, analysis and sharing to support Labour Migration Governance in East and Horn Africa. The Committee observes further that 200 Ugandan legislators were trained on labour migration and ethical recruitment. The training programme is part of the IOM global project “Promoting ethical recruitment in the hotel and tourism industry”, which seeks to reduce the risk of exploitation facing migrant workers in the hotel industry and its supply chain thus establishing ethical recruitment. Finally, the Committee acknowledges the Government’s efforts to put in place a strong institutional framework to implement its migration policy but observes that, in practice, many Ugandan migrant workers remain vulnerable to abuses throughout the recruitment process and in the destination workplace. Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken: (i) to prevent exploitation and better protect migrant workers from clandestine movements and illegal employment; and (ii) to bolster ethical recruitment policies and practice of private employment agencies to enhance safe and orderly labour migration pathways.

Articles 2–6. Measures to prevent and address clandestine movements of migrants, illegal employment of migrant, migration in abusive conditions, effective sanctions. The Committee recalls that section 37(1) and (2) of the Employment Act 2006 prohibit the organization of or assistance to illicit or clandestine movements of migrants for employment, and the employment of a person known to be unlawfully in the country, as well as the penalties and sanctions imposed (section 96/1). The Committee notes that, according to the website of the Uganda Law Reform Commission, a review of the Employment Act 2006 was undertaken with the view of aligning it to international standards and that the review addressed inter alia issues of migrant workers, domestic workers, and labour export. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on : (i) the number and nature of infringements detected in violation of section 37(1) and (2) of the Employment Act; (ii) any legal proceedings brought against the organizers of clandestine movements, and those assisting in organizing those movements, and the penalties imposed; (iii) the number of workplace inspections carried out and the outcome of these inspections regarding illegal employment of migrant workers; (iv) any legal proceedings brought against employers who are illegally employing migrant workers, and the penalties imposed; and (v) steps taken to establish with other States systematic contact and exchange of information on measures to suppress clandestine movements of migrant workers and their illegal employment, and against the organizers of such activities. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress in the revision of the Employment Act, 2006.

Bilateral Agreements. The Committee notes from the Uganda Migration Profile as well as from the Women’s labour migration report that, besides the Memorandum of Understanding signed in March 2017 with Saudi Arabia, Uganda signed a bilateral agreement with Jordan in November 2016 and was pursuing negotiations of agreements with Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates. The Women’s labour migration report mentioned above indicates that, between 2016 and early 2019, there were 17,597 female migrant domestic workers from Uganda in Saudi Arabia and 4,119 in Jordan alone, and that the total number of Ugandan migrant workers in the Middle East in the last decade could be over 100,000. The report highlights that in practice the bilateral agreements signed with Saudi Arabia and Jordan are not necessarily enforced effectively on both sides: the recruitment agencies (accredited by the Ministry of Labour and those not accredited) charge recruitment fees, the official recruitment process is not respected, employment contracts are not provided and if so, they are either not respected or the provisions are inconsistent with what is stipulated in Uganda’s national labour laws or with the provisions of ratified ILO standards concerning migrant workers’ entitlement to social protection. The Committee wishes to emphasize the important role that bilateral agreements and other arrangements should play to ensure that migrant workers are able to benefit from the protections contained in the Conventions. In this context, it is important that the content of these agreements and arrangements be made available in understandable terms to those who benefit from them. It should also be ensured that these agreements include adequate monitoring of their implementation and access to enforcement mechanisms and provision of social dialogue (2016 General Survey concerning the migrant workers instrument, para.163). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure a large dissemination of the content of the bilateral labour agreements concluded. It further requests the Government to ensure that these bilateral agreements: (i) are consistent with the provisions of international labour instruments ratified by the country; (ii) include a gender dimension as women migrant workers, in particular domestic workers, face specific abusive conditions; and (iii) adopt a system for regular monitoring and periodic evaluation of the effective implementation of the provisions of these agreements.

Article 7. Consultations with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee recalls that workers’ and employers’ organizations should be consulted in regard to the issues covered by the Convention. The Committee requests therefore the Government to provide information on how the consultation of workers’ and employers’ organizations, as well as the opportunity for them to take initiative, are being ensured with regard to laws and regulations and other measures designed to detect, eliminate and prevent migration in abusive conditions and the illegal employment of migrant workers.

Article 9. Rights arising out of past employment. The Committee wishes to recall that migrant workers in an irregular situation and engaged in unlawful employment should not be deprived of their rights for the work they have actually performed. Furthermore, in the event of a dispute, these migrant workers should be able to present their cases to a competent body (2016 General Survey, para. 303). The Committee again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that: (i) migrant workers whose situation cannot be regularized enjoy equality of treatment with respect to rights arising out of past employment concerning remuneration, social security and other benefits; (ii) workers concerned shall have the possibility to present their case to a competent body; and (iii) the costs of expulsion shall not be borne by the migrant worker or his or her family.

Article 10. National equality policy. The Committee recalls section 6(2) and (3) of the Employment Act 2006 concerning the duty to promote equality of opportunity in employment of migrant workers and members of their families who are lawfully within Ugandan territory, and section 6(3) of the Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, national extraction, religion, political opinion, social origin, HIV status or disability. Section 75(g) explicitly provides that nationality, among other grounds, shall not be a reason for dismissal.  The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the practical application of sections 6(2) and (3) and 75(g) of the Employment Act, including on any measures taken by the authorities concerned to promote equality of opportunity and treatment between migrant workers lawfully in the country and nationals; and on any complaints from migrant workers received by the competent authorities concerning violations of sections 6(2) and (3) and 75(g) of the Employment Act, and the outcome of these complaints.

Article 14. Free choice of employment and restrictions. The Committee recalls that the Convention authorizes certain restrictions on the principle of equality of treatment as regards access to employment: Article 14(a) allows the State to make the free choice of employment subject to temporary restrictions during a prescribed period which may not exceed two years, while Article 14(c) allows for restricted access to limited categories of employment or functions where this is necessary in the interest of the State.  The Committee requests the Government once again to indicate any employment restrictions imposed on migrant workers pursuant to sections 6(5) and 97(2)(c) of the Employment Act, according to which the Minister can by regulations limit the range of jobs open to migrant workers.