Thousands of Ugandans are lured abroad by promises of decent work and better pay. Many return with broken dreams, debt or not at all. As labor export becomes a booming industry, questions remain about who is protected and who is profiting.

Kampala

Uganda's labor export industry has seen significant growth, with remittances reaching $1.4 billion in 2024. However, this boom has been accompanied by serious concerns over the safety and rights of Ugandan workers abroad. Many young Ugandans, particularly women, have been misled by vague contracts and false promises, sometimes ending up in hazardous or exploitative conditions, such as assembling military equipment in foreign countries.

Investigations have revealed that some government officials or their families have financial interests in labor export companies, raising questions about transparency and accountability. Human rights violations and trafficking under the guise of legitimate recruitment remain persistent issues. Calls for independent regulation, stronger bilateral agreements, and the creation of sustainable jobs at home have intensified as authorities and international organizations seek to better protect migrant workers.

Uganda’s labor export boom raises fears over worker safety abroad

There's a lot of ignorance among the population because most of the girls that are trafficked outside Uganda, some think they are going for genuine work, of which they are just ignorant. Once they are sent in those countries, the governments where they are coming from should follow up and know where they are working because they are working in poor conditions. Be honest. Would you take a job offer abroad today if the pay is great but the contract is vague? If your answer is yes, you might be in for a surprise. Take this example. Thousands of young Ugandans, especially women, were promised careers in hospitality or logistics only to end up assembling combat drones in military factories in Russia. There were attempts to make recruitment of some persons to the Russian environment, or we call it the country. And we also made some interceptions at the airport. As we speak, our intelligence organs and generally police at large is looking into that direction. While the government touts remittances and job creation, the reality on the ground tells a darker story. Welcome to the flip side. Thousands of Ugandans seek jobs abroad which promise better pay. Some of them return home to invest or start businesses. Some come back with debt and trauma, while others don't return at all. Who's being protected and who's benefiting? Labour export is a lucrative business. Remittances to Uganda hit $1.4 billion in 2024, but there's a hook. Investigations have revealed that some senior government figures allegedly have ties to labour export companies. Imagine that. Some of the very officials tasked with protecting migrant workers are also profiting from the system. This raises serious questions about transparency, accountability and conflict of interest. There are government officials who own these agencies or their families. The fact that these companies are owned by politicians makes it harder for them to be held accountable because, of course, politicians in Uganda tend to have some level of influence over the security forces, the judiciary and other institutions that are supposed to be looking at these cases. And so you'll find a lot of the times these companies are able to evade accountability. Meanwhile, human rights violations continue to mount. The Ministry of Gender acknowledges that trafficking often occurs under the guise of legitimate recruitment, with agents using deceit and coercion to exploit desperate job seekers. Uganda has more than 200 job recruitment firms and according to the International Labour Organization, since 2016, nearly 270,000 Ugandans have migrated for work, mainly to Gulf nations. Is enough being done to stop traffickers and protect the rights of these workers? The government of Uganda has never put what we call government attachés. These are people who can follow up these young girls when they have problems. They need to even punish more. They have to strengthen the punishment so that these people, once they traffic people, they get the punishments they are supposed to be getting. Despite these realities, Uganda's chief of defence forces has recently positioned himself as a champion of reform, calling for tighter regulation and worker protections. But critics argue that this is too little too late, especially when military-linked firms are part of the problem. The practice is not just happening in Uganda. Young women from Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and Sierra Leone have reportedly been lured to Russia under the guise of vocational training and job opportunities. Interpol has launched investigations in countries such as Botswana, while Uganda and Kenya are examining the legitimacy of these recruitment drives. We need an independent regulator to move licensing, auditing and oversight of labour externalisation from the ministry, for example, of gender. And we have an independent body, which has an independent board, a board that can have represented by civil society, private companies, but not government. I think it's important for the government to engage more diplomatically with some of these countries where the migrant workers are being taken, whether it's Russia, whether it's Saudi Arabia, and work on bilateral agreements, bilateral labour agreements that include human rights mechanisms and human rights protections. So what's the way forward? To truly protect its citizens, Uganda must go beyond reactive measures and invest in long-term solutions. It means creating sustainable employment opportunities at home, especially for youth and women, so that migration becomes a choice, not a necessity. It also requires strengthening labour export policies with clearly defined accountability mechanisms, transparent ownership of recruitment firms and robust enforcement of human rights standards. And that's the flip side.

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