Malawian migrants working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are regretting taking up jobs in the oil rich Middle East country due to poor working conditions, Weekend Nation has learnt. Meanwhile, government says it plans to cancel all labour export deals with the UAE until concerns about the working conditions are addressed. Two workers we have spoken to, one of whom was a beneficiary of the labour export deal between the Government of Malawi and the UAE, said the migrants are housed in dormitories and paid less than what was stipulated in their contracts. Maggie Kamwendo, who left Malawi in February this year and works for a catering company, told Weekend Nation in a telephone interview that she works long hours, “but gets peanuts.” “Accommodation is another big challenge as we are confined in one room as if we are at a boarding school. “I am asking government, through our embassy, to look into the matter, otherwise we are just working for the benefit of our employers and this country,” she said. Another Malawian, Benon Mwale, corroborated the complaints in a telephone interview that most migrant workers have no decent homes such that on average, six workers share a room. “Like other migrant workers, Malawian youths survive on junk food as they are not allowed to cook in the rooms and, worse still, are paid little money to afford proper meals,” he said. Mwale, who has lived in UAE for the past 15 years, also claimed that most of the youth get 200 Dirham, an equivalent of K20 000 per month, when the basic monthly living cost for a single person in the UAE is 600 Dirham, approximately K68 000, according to an internet site casualexpat. Chair
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 07:24:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015