A Malawian woman currently living in Oman has revealed that Malawian women working in Oman are being abused physically, sexually and mentally by their employers and some Malawians have been ended up dead.
In a post on Facebook, one woman has revealed that women and girls are recruited by Malawian agents offering employment in Oman. However, the women are sold to employees in Oman by the Malawian Agents for 600,000 Malawi Kwacha and they are told to pay back money for their travel.
The unnamed woman has compared her situation in Oman to that of slavery as they suffer human rights abuses such as rape, torture and poor pay.
In the post, she said she has been raped by her employer on multiple occasions, has been beaten mercilessly and is not allowed to leave the house. She added that she tried asking to leave to go back home but every time she tried to leave she was told that she owes the employers K2.5 million which she failed to pay.
The woman complained that she is mostly underpaid but works long hours, waking up at 4am and going to bed 12am. She said the initial agreement was to receive K450,000 Malawian Kwacha but she receives K250,000 and sometimes the amount is lower.
She has since urged the Malawi Government to look into the matter and has warned fellow Malawians to be careful.
“So am writing this to warn atsikana ena otengeka kuti asabwele poyamba kumakhala kutinyengelela koma tikangofika kuno nde amatiyankha mwano nde please nanga ntchito yanji yomangotenga atsikana okhaokha and without ma papers aku labour office ya Malawi chonde falitsa uthengawu kwa amalawi tikuzuzika kuno (I am warning fellow girls not to come to Oman to work. When they are recruiting girls, the agents are sweet talkers but once you get to Oman they provide rude responses. It is also surprising that they only recruit girls and the labour office is not involved in the recruitment. We are suffering here).
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Labour in Malawi warned labour export recruiters to stop charging fee to job seekers and stop bypassing the ministry when recruiting people, saying non-compliant recruiters would prosecuted for trafficking in persons.
“All non-compliant recruiters are hereby asked to stop their recruitment activities with immediate effect or risk prosecution under the Trafficking in Persons Act. The Ministry is ready to engage the recruiters to provide them with the necessary advice and guidance,” the ministry said in a statement.
Malawians usually travel to countries such as Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates for employment opportunities.
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