Ugandan Religious Leaders Resolve to ‘Preach’ Safety in Labour Migration

At the end of a series of workshops on labour migration, Ugandan religious leaders have pledged more concerted efforts to sensitize youth on safe approaches when seeking work abroad. In their resolutions, read out by the Deputy Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Waiswa, the religious leaders also promised to do more towards reintegrating returning migrant workers in their communities.

The awareness raising workshops were organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) over three days in Entebbe. They attracted nearly 100 bishops, sheikhs, priests, pastors and other clerics of various religious denominations and communities from across the country. This initiative was part of IOM projects funded by the USA Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Opening the series on 23 July, IOM Uganda Chief of Mission Sanusi Tejan Savage said despite various campaigns warning about unregistered and dubious recruiters and human traffickers, many youths continued to fall in harm’s way. And on the closing day, he further explained the logic of partnering with the religious leaders: “During our [internal] discussions, we said: ‘We have in our society Bishops, Sheikhs/Sheikha’s, Alhajis and Hajjats, Reverends, Priests, Imams, etc. These people – combined – speak to millions and millions of Ugandans every week. Why don’t we partner with them to spread the crucial information to their faithful?’”

Sheikh Waiswa, presenting the religious leaders’ resolutions 4 and 5, said: “[We resolve] To scale out and cascade this IOM supported capacity building initiative on Safe Labour migration and ethical recruitment at the sub-national level so that other religious leaders are skilled and empowered. “[We] Call upon all religious leaders to provide safe spaces, particularly at places of worship to serve as centers of information on the right pathways towards safe migration for young people intending to migrate.”

During the workshops, various religious leaders were especially pleased to hear from Mr. Hillary Talemwa, the Head of External Employment at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. He explained the efforts that the government was making to improve the safety of workers, including through signing bilateral labour agreements, holding recruitment companies accountable, and intervening where migrant workers are stranded abroad.  He gave an example of well-educated Ugandans who were recently trafficked to Myanmar, 23 of whom were returned home in May, with support of IOM. 

Participant after participant agreed that it was important for religious leaders to share correct information with believers. One pastor told of a church member who had come to him to pray for her to get a visa to go to the Middle East. “Recently, the lady called me from there and thanked me for the prayers. But she added that: ‘Pastor, I need you to pray for me more because things here are very hard’, the pastor narrated. “Now, I know that when people come for prayers for visas, I will need to first ask some questions.”

The workshop series was closed by Metropolitan Jeroynmos Muzeeyi, Orthodox Archbishop & Co-Chair of the IRCU Council of Presidents.  He said religious leaders had a duty to protect the vulnerable in an age of exploitation, poverty, violence and war.

“By enhancing our capacity in these times, around labour migration and ethical recruitment, it’s in our view a worthy investment as we will now be in a better position to play a very critical role of creating awareness in our communities, providing psychosocial support to the returning migrants in addition to facilitating re-integration at community level and enhancing policy influence for better migration laws and regulations,” Archbishop Muzeeyi said.