Tanzania keen to protect rights of nationals working abroad

 

Prof Joyce Ndalichako. PHOTO | COURTESY

By Zephania Ubwani

Summary

·         There have been many instances where Tanzanians face mistreatment in foreign places of work but the government has now set mechanisms in place to manage these cases

Arusha. The government is working on the benchmarks that would ensure the safety of its nationals working abroad.

The initiative is aimed at enabling them to secure reliable employment that would also safeguard their rights.

The Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in charge of Labour, Youth and Employment Joyce Ndalichako hinted at this in Arusha earlier this week.

She was opening a meeting on labour migration organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other global bodies.

She said the government was aware of rising concerns on safety and job security of Tanzanians recruited to work abroad.

These include different forms of mistreatment, including denial of their perks by some employers, many of whom are not known to authorities in Tanzania.

The trend has been notorious in the Gulf States and other Middle East countries for domestic workers and low cadre jobs mainly in the private sector.

Prof Ndalichako reiterated that the government would continue to establish a database for Tanzanians working in various countries abroad and in neighbouring states.

Likewise, the government was documenting records of foreigners coming to work in Tanzania in order to keep official records to that effect.

Prof Ndalichako did not reveal the new requirements for Tanzanians seeking jobs abroad but hinted that some agents have been identified to carry the job on behalf of the government.

Her remarks came less than two years after the National Assembly was told that various strategies were underway to manage contracts of young people going to work abroad.

Among these are identifying foreign employment agency companies and requiring them to have contractual agreements with their counterparts in the country.

Another strategy, according to the deputy Foreign Affairs minister Mbarouk Nassor Mbarouk was to sensitise the youths who find employment abroad to provide details and submit their employment contracts to Tanzania's diplomatic missions in the respective states for verification.

The deputy minister said then that the government had started the process of entering employment agreements with some countries to formalize access to employment in those countries.

He stressed that it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that Tanzanians with access to employment abroad were safe from any form of discrimination.

It was in this context that the government initiated a mechanism of issuing foreign employment permits through authorities dealing with employment issues in collaboration with Tanzania embassies.

According to him, the government authorities directly tasked with the job include the Tanzania Employment Services Agency (Taesa) and the Zanzibar Labour Commission.

However, observers still insist that there are still numerous challenges on this because some young people getting jobs do not comply with the procedure, at times out of neglect.

Reports abound also that some Tanzanian nationals do not identify themselves with the country's diplomatic missions where they work or reside.

Other speakers at the ILO-organised meeting in Arusha, which ended yesterday, said Tanzania needs to exchange expertise with other countries on labour migration issues.

They included Ms Gloria Moreno Fontes, the ILO's chief technical advisor for southern Africa and a representative of the Zanzibar government Mr Amir Ally Ameir.