Getting loans from a country to build roads is one thing. Putting your citizens in an erratic labour market is another thing.
The government made it very clear to the Gambian people that a workforce is needed in Saudi Arabia for domestic labour. A promise was made that the government will ensure that those who satisfy the terms of qualification will be employed and that their terms and condition of service will not fall short of the terms and condition of service fit for a domestic worker.
Foroyaa had advised that the terms and condition of employment should be clear to the Gambian domestic workers before they depart so that what they find upon arrival will be the same condition that the agent have assured them before signing any contract.
It is very clear that Saudi citizens have different levels of income and different levels of exposure to the skin colour and cultural orientation of non-Saudi domestic workers. Unless the Gambian employment agents are taken on a conducted tour by Saudi agencies so that they will be exposed to the type of employers they engage, the assurances of full protection to Gambian domestic workers will not be grounded.
The Gambian citizens should not be used as tools of foreign policy. Their dignity, integrity, human security and happiness must not be compromised and sacrificed before the altar of state-to-state relations. We therefore expect the government to investigate all cases of Gambians taken to Saudi Arabia as domestic workers to provide remedies for any contractual breaches or betrayal of expectations.
The government must also insist that any contractual work that involves Gambian agents would also include free deployment visits to enable the agents to familiarise themselves with the conditions that the Gambian domestic workers would function under when employed.
It is the duty f the government to prevent injury rather than provide remedies for them.
Foroyaa is investigating cases regarding Gambian domestic workers who allegedly became dissatisfied of their working condition in Saudi Arabia. The President of the Republic should call the authorities at the ministries of trade and foreign affairs for a full update and take the necessary action to prevent any souring of Saudi relation due to any adverse report of Gambian citizens taken to Saudi Arabia to work through the initiation and under the watch of the Gambia Government.
