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Members of Parliament (MPs) now want various regulations governing the recruitment of migrant workers reviewed in order to cap the amount of fees that Private Recruitment Agencies pay the National Employment Authority (NEA).

In a report tabled in the National Assembly, MPs who sit in the Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers committee in particular want a review of the Labour Institution (Private Employment Agencies) Regulations, 2016 to not only cap the amounts payable to NEA but to also pave way for the creation of a list of registered private employment agencies together with their registered signage which will be posted on NEA’s website and made accessible to the public.

The review of the regulations, they said, will also pave the way for the increase of the validity period of the registration certificate to two years from the current one year on grounds most contracts for migrant workers run for two years, particularly domestic workers recruited for the Middle East labour market.

Foreign labour

Reads the report: “Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary; review the amount of fee the Private Recruitment Agencies pay to NEA for various categories of registrations.”

Among the proposal they have made include a reduction of fees for an initial application for the registration of an agency dealing with recruitment for foreign labour market from the current Sh500,000 to Sh400,000 while on fees for an application for the renewal of registration of an agency dealing with recruitment for foreign labour market, they want the same to be increased to Sh300,000 from the current Sh250,000.

On fees for an application for renewal of registration of an agency dealing with recruitment for local Kenyan labour market, they want this increased from the current Sh75,000 to Sh100,000 while on the fees for replacement of a certificate of registration, they want it reduced to Sh5,000 from the initial Sh10,000.

And apart from the fees, the committee has also made far reaching proposals that they want implemented in order to streamline the sector.

Among the areas they want dealt with include amendments introduced on the International Treaties and Conventions and bilateral Labour Agreements agreed between Kenya and other countries as well as a review of the issuance of travel documents and pre travel medical screening, home care training, curriculum runaways, return and reintegration.

On pre-travel medical screening, the MPs directed the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to negotiate for accreditation of additional medical facilities in different regions across the country in order to expand the options available for pre travel medical examinations and screenings required for migrant workers to travel and taking into consideration the requirements for new labour export destinations.’

They also want the CS to engage the State Department for Immigration and Citizen towards implementing a system of unique visas specifically designed for migrant workers similar to the approach taken by the Philippines with its Overseas Filipino Worker Employment Permit.

Reads the report: “The medical testing for migrant workers for the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) market is only done through the Gulf Approved Medical Centers (GAMCA). These centers are only based in Nairobi and Mombasa while migrant workers come from all parts of the country. Having testing centers in major cities/towns would ease access for the workers and reduce costs. There have also been cases of discrepancies in the medical results by GAMCA approved centers and medicals done in destination countries.”

On home care training curriculum, the MPs want Labour CS to halt the implementation of the new home care training curriculum until adequate public participation is conducted on the content of the curriculum and the views of all stakeholders taken into account in order to ensure that the new curriculum is customized to meet specific destination country requirements in view of the Bilateral Labour Agreements signed, being negotiated or proposed for negotiation.

On the runaways, return and reintegration, the committee wants the Labour ministry in collaboration with the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services and the State Department for Diaspora Affairs to identify and evacuates all runaways from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.

They also want continuous public awareness on the repatriation process as well as measures to be put in place to ensure that agents are held liable by ensuring their employees adhere to their contractual obligations and where the migrant workers.

Reads the report: “The reputation of the Saudi domestic Labour Market has been highly affected by cases of Runaways (Kembois). Runaways include those that leave Kenya with the intention of running away as soon as they arrive at the airport with direct connection from the hosts (Dalala)”.