Government to Enforce Labour Export Regulations
Minister of Labour, HonourableAgnessNyaLonje, has called upon private recruitment agencies in the country, to ensure that they follow necessary guidelines for vibrant labour export services in the country.
She said this on Monday, when she, together with the Minister of Information and Digitization, Moses Kunkuyu, met with various private recruitment agencies, to among other things, discuss guidelines on labour export as well as kick-start a multi-stakeholder dialogue by providing a platform for stakeholders to engage in meaningful discussions on labour export.
According to NyaLonje, it is very important for both the Government, recruiting agencies and the recruits to be on the same page for the best interest of all.
She said her Ministry, guided by relevant international instruments on the protection of migrant workers, including the International Labour Conventions, developed and issued Labour Export Guidelines in 2016, aimed at enhancing protection of all Malawians working or wishing to work abroad.
“While Government seeks to open official access to foreign labour markets, we are aware of the need to prevent our citizens from using unregulated channels of labour migration and in order to minimize the use of unregulated channels Government will build on, and reinforce, its current systems to ensure that fair and ethical recruitment as well as safety and security of Malawian migrant workers abroad is guaranteed”, She said.
On his part, Minister of Information and Digitization, Moses Kunkuyu, urged the agencies to be transparent, on the specific requirements of the recruitment exercise, to avoid unfounded information.
He has since tasked them to ensure they continue to collaborate with recruits in ensuring that they are in safe and protected working conditions.
While acknowledging that exploitation in the labour export services sometimes do happen, Chairperson for the Private Recruitment Agencies in the country, Trevor Kandoje, said the close collaboration with the involved government agencies will assist in identifying loopholes that may be there to ensure the protection of recruits.
During the meeting, the two Ministers said the Government of Malawi, intends to send 5000 youths to work in Israel’s agriculture sector with a possibility to increase the number to 15000.
