IOM returns 113 stranded Ugandan women from Saudi Arabia

On 15 September 2020, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) supported the return home of 113 female Ugandan migrant workers stranded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to the COVID-19-induced economic downturn and travel restrictions.  

This movement, aboard an IOM-chartered flight, was achieved in partnership with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Uganda, and a result of the coordination efforts of United Nations Resident Coordinator Rosa Malango

With support from the IOM Regional Office in Nairobi, IOM missions in Uganda and Bahrain worked closely with Ugandan authorities and embassy representatives in Riyadh on the identification and screening of 229 Ugandan nationals in Saudi Arabia. IOM assistance eventually went to the 113 most vulnerable migrant women, who had no other means to return to Uganda and had tested free of COVID-19.

Tens of thousands of Ugandans are working abroad, especially in the Middle East. Most are employed as either domestic workers or security guards, contributing significantly to the livelihoods of their families back home. Many have been deeply affected by the far-reaching socio-economic impact of COVID-19. Some of the returnees had medical conditions; others said they had gone months without pay.

Commenting on the evacuation flight, IOM Uganda Chief of Mission Sanusi Tejan Savage said every effort had been made to ensure that return of the stranded Ugandans did not endanger the country’s fight against COVID-19. “All the travelling, migrants were tested for COVID-19 prior to their departure from Riyadh and upon their arrival in Uganda,” Savage said.  “They also received sanitation kits, including face masks, and other necessities as they were taken into quarantine centres.”

According to a United Nations study of the socio-economic impact of COVID-19, remittances from Ugandans working abroad contribute approximately 4.5 percent to Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product, placing it above the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 2.8 percent.  While welcoming the voluntary return initiative, UN Uganda Resident Coordinator Rosa Malango warned that the country’s remittances were bound to fall, drastically affecting household incomes among both the rural and urban poor.

“As these people return home,” Malango said, “they and their dependents are adding to a bigger community of individuals who are becoming increasingly vulnerable to poverty and will need special interventions.”