The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) has announced on Thursday that it is going to lift the travel ban that it imposed on domestic workers who travel to the Middle East.
Speaking before the House of Peoples' Representatives (HPR), Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Abdulfetah Abdulahi Hassen told MPs that the government decided to lift the ban after it made bilateral agreements on the safety of citizens with the governments of Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.
He also indicated that the government had to take time to deliver trainings and proper education for domestic workers who seek to travel to the Middle East.
"So far we have been undertaking important steps such as revising the existing bilateral agreements and trying to amend them in order to ensure the safety of our people", the Minister told Mps. However, he did not mention when the ban is going to be lifted.
The banning of citizens from traveling to the region was prompted after repeated reports that countless Ethiopians have lost their lives and undergone untold physical and psychological trauma due to illegal human trafficking.
The decision was meant to safeguard the wellbeing of the citizens, and was effective until a lasting solution was found to the problem.
According to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report in 2011, migrant domestic workers in countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia become trapped in exploitative or abusive employment because of the sponsorship system.
They face criminal penalties if they try to leave a job without their employer's permission, facing detention by government authorities if they are reported as 'absconding' and deported, even if they have been abused and are seeking redress.
In countries like Lebanon, a lack of accessible complaint mechanisms, lengthy and costly judicial procedures, and restrictive visa policies discourage migrant domestic workers from reporting abuse and exploitation.
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