More than 300 Malawian female domestic workers that have been stuck in Oman and are facing various forms of human rights abuses since last year could be repatriated home soon following negotiations that are currently underway.
A delegation from the ministries of Labour and Foreign Affairs is currently in Oman to discuss the matter with the authorities there and see if the women can be repatriated.
However, this is not the first time as, in October last year, an inter-ministerial delegation from Malawi was also in Oman to request for the immediate discharge and subsequent repatriation of the citizens. This not yield results.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour Nellie Kanyemba said the delegation left last week Friday.
While she had no exact figure of the women currently stuck in Oman, Kanyemba said about 13 of them were prioritised for repatriation about three months ago because of health reasons.
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“A delegation from Malawi is in Oman to repatriate the remaining women in Oman. Thirteen are already in the country; they were repatriated three months ago and they were prioritised because of their health conditions. They needed health attention; that is why they were separately brought back home,” she said.
Kanyemba said there is an allocation of K400 million for the repatriation exercise.
“There was an allocation of about K400 million. However, it does not necessarily mean that this whole amount will be used on this trip to repatriate the girls if the delegation will be successful to repatriate all of them,” she said.
In October last year, the then Minister of Labour Vera Kamtukule said government was planning to submit a request for the suspension of domestic work visa to Oman and draft a Bilateral Labour Agreement to ensure protection of both existing and future Malawian workers.
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Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) Chairperson Gift Trapence has since called upon the government to fulfil its obligations and commitment and repatriate its citizens.
“The process is taking too long and it is important for the government to push hard to speed up the process to make sure that the rights of the women are protected and safeguarded.
“It is important for the government to be serious on this matter. Delaying the process is the same as government taking part in inflicting more pain on the women and allowing the rights of the women to continue being violated,” he said.
In February this year, Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had secured 50 air tickets to start the repatriation exercise following negotiations between the two countries.
But no one has been repatriated under that arrangement.
