Labour export and the human trafficking problem in Uganda

Abstract

Many governments especially in Africa have undertaken labor export as one of the policies to address youth unemployment. In Uganda the ministry of gender, labor and social development reported to having granted licenses to 97 labor export companies by January 2019 in a bid to expand the labor export industry. According to Mahdavi (2011), the labor export sector has however been shrouded with controversy over exploitation and mistreatment of laborers, both from their recruiters and employers. Labor migration is thus being taunted as a facilitator of the global human trafficking problem with reports of killing, poisoning, sexual abuse and women who are forced to have sex with animals. It has thus become increasingly difficult to draw the line between labor export and human trafficking given the increase of legal migrants to the far East, Europe and the America’s in form of labor export. This paper undertakes an investigation of the relationship between labor export and human trafficking taking into account the labor export situation in Uganda. It also covers steps being taken by government and humanitarian agencies, both local and international to curb the human trafficking problem. The paper further suggests possible solutions to the gaps in the labor export industry that can help minimize the human trafficking problem