Ugandan women rebuild traumatised lives after Gulf abuse

Emily Ounyesiga, 38, beams with pride as she talks about the bakery she runs in Uganda's capital Kampala — a vibrant, bustling space filled with the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread and pastries.

In 2017 Ounyesiga was duped by a recruitment agent and trafficked to work as a live-in nanny in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. She was promised a monthly salary of $400 (R7,220) — six times more than she could earn in Uganda. Instead, over four years, Ounyesiga was enslaved, starved, raped and jailed.

“When I returned to Uganda, I was so sick and frail,” the mother of two told Context/the Thomson Reuters Foundation via a video call. “But I was luckier than most. I got help. I was taken to a hospital to get treatment, provided with a place to stay and given training where I learnt baking and was able to rebuild my life. Now, I feel I have a bright future.”

Ounyesiga is one of just a few African women who, after being exploited as domestic workers in the Middle East, have managed to forge a new path with support from international charity EverFree. The organisation operates in Uganda and the Philippines, providing survivors of human trafficking with shelters, medical and psychosocial care and skills training.

Monica Kyamazima, head of EverFree in Uganda, said the charity has helped hundreds of young women but many more remain trapped in poverty and suffering after returning from the Gulf. In 2024 the charity supported 353 survivors of human trafficking.

According to EverFree, more than 50-million people live in modern slavery and exploitation globally — yet less than 1% receive the help they need after they escape.

“Recovery and rehabilitation is key for survivors,” said Kyamazima. “If this does not happen, some will be end up victims again and their trauma will continue.”

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Lebanon have for years relied on millions of low-paid foreign labourers to work as maids, caregivers, nannies, drivers and security guards. More than 68% of the oil-rich Gulf region's population are migrants, many from Asia and Africa, the UN says.

They include hundreds of thousands of women from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria, among other countries. Figures from the International Labour Organisation show about 270,000 Ugandans migrated to the Middle East between 2016 and 2023, mainly to work in the care sector.

The destination countries have long faced criticism from rights groups for a sponsorship system that leaves migrant workers open to abuse and exploitation. Under the “kafala” system, a foreign domestic worker's legal status is tied to their employer and they cannot change jobs or leave the country without permission. This has led to widespread abuses — from passport confiscation, unpaid wages and excessive work hours to beatings and rape by household members.

Rights groups accuse recruitment agencies of trafficking by luring poor women from small towns and villages under false pretences with the promise of well-paid jobs.

Many of these women believe the jobs offer a rare opportunity to save money and buy land, build a house, start a small business or pay their children's' school fees. But the reality can be quite different.

“I went as a nanny, but instead the madam forced me to do other jobs such as cleaning, cooking, and working for her catering business,” said Ounyesiga. “When the madam travelled, her husband would rape me. I told her what he had done, but she just gave me a Panadol and warned me not to go to the police.” 

Ounyesiga said she was paid less than half of what she was promised by the recruitment agent and after enduring more than three years of abuse she went to the police in Abu Dhabi. The police, however, refused to help her — accusing her of violating her work contract. She was jailed for six months before being deported home to Uganda in 2021.

Derek Kigenyi, deputy co-ordinator of the national co-ordination office for the prevention of trafficking in persons at Uganda's ministry of internal affairs, said the government had taken steps to prevent the abuse of citizens.

It signed bilateral agreements with some Arab nations to ensure better protection for Ugandans and set up a website where only vetted employment agencies are allowed to advertise jobs. But he said Ugandan embassies in Gulf countries did not have the necessary staff.

“We don't have jurisdiction to try these cases in Uganda and we don't have the legal personnel in the Middle East to represent victims and go after the employers,” said Kigenyi.

Providing survivors with access to justice, EverFree has helped in the prosecution of recruitment agents in Uganda on charges of human trafficking, Kyamazima said. The traffickers were jailed, recruitment licences were withdrawn and the agencies were ordered to pay compensation.

EverFree also trains survivors in skills such as baking, tailoring and jewellery-making so they can start a business and earn money, and it works to educate women about the risks of unlicensed recruitment agencies.

Ounyesiga said EverFree helped transform her pain into purpose, adding her experience could offer hope to other survivors.

“I have managed to start my own bakery. Now I plan to employ victims of human trafficking who have suffered in the Middle East.”

Reuters