The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Uganda has successfully recovered over 2,000 passports from labour export companies that unlawfully seized them from domestic workers when their businesses faced challenges due to stringent government regulations on labour export. An investigation conducted by the ministry last year revealed that these companies were illegally holding more than 20,000 passports belonging to job seekers.
According to Mr Simon Mundeyi, the spokesperson for Internal Affairs, approximately 1,500 passports were confiscated from labour export companies that had initially processed them for sending workers abroad. However, when these companies failed to facilitate the journey, they retained the passports. Some affected individuals struggled to retrieve their passports, prompting the ministry to intervene and recover them through alternative means.
Mr. Mundeyi explained that in some cases, companies handed over passports directly to affected individuals when their businesses collapsed. The recovery effort is part of the government’s response to address irregularities in the labour export sector.
Annually, around 80,000 young Ugandans, primarily women, seek job opportunities in Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia due to high unemployment rates in Uganda.
The ministry disclosed that they are also holding over 1,000 passports intercepted from victims of human trafficking. Some passports were abandoned at the airport during the COVID-19 pandemic, with individuals returning home leaving their passports for contact tracing and treatment purposes. Additionally, 80 passports sent by the Chinese Embassy were abandoned, raising concerns about the failure to collect processed visas.
The ministry emphasized the importance of collecting these passports promptly. If the passports remain unclaimed despite repeated reminders, the government may consider disposing of them by established procedures.
Concerned individuals are urged to retrieve their passports from the Internal Affairs headquarters to avoid potential disposal.
