Amnesty report exposes abuse of Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - More than 70 Kenyan women have documented their harrowing experiences working as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, a new report by Amnesty International released on Tuesday shows.

In the report, launched in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, the rights group documents how workers were deceived by recruitment agents, denied rest days, and worked under inhumane conditions with little or no pay.

One of the women, Bigeni Maina Mwangi, told The Associated Press how she was promised a beautician job in Saudi Arabia, she instead found herself thrust into a life of domestic servitude under exploitative conditions.

"The contract I signed in Nairobi was changed the moment I landed," she said. "The agent said I had no choice but to work."

Mwangi worked in Saudi Arabia for 17 months without pay. When she was finally sent home, her promised wages never came. Due to rising unemployment in Kenya, she found a better job in Dubai, but a return to Oman in 2020 led to even grimmer conditions.

"I worked in three houses non-stop, often without food," she said.

The Amnesty report urges the Kenyan and Saudi governments to extend labor protections to domestic workers, prosecute abusive employers, and ban recruitment agencies complicit in exploitation.

Another woman, Mejuma Shaban Ali, recounted signing her contract at Kenya's main airport before flying out in 2014. Her journey led her to what she described as "a prison."

"I was forced to escape the house disguised as taking out trash," Ali said. "I got to the Embassy hoping for help. Instead, I was told to find another employer because I had made no money to pay off my employer."

She ended up working illegally after being linked to a broker, with her passport still held by her first employer.

Both women called for a crackdown on rogue recruitment agencies and stronger embassy support. "There are people suffering in Oman with no way out," Ali warned.

The rights group estimates more than 150,000 Kenyans work as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

"The system amounts to modern slavery," said Amnesty Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton.

The Kenyan government has in recent months cracked down on exploitative recruitment agencies and promised to protect Kenyans abroad. The labor ministry in April facilitated the return of more than 100 Kenyans who were scammed by an agency and got stranded in Myanmar and Thailand.