Labour minister cautions desperate jobs seekers

Minister of Labour, Youth and Manpower Development Henry Mussa has asked job seekers looking for greener pastures abroad to liaise with his ministry to avoid being conned by unregistered brokers.

His comment on Tuesday comes in the wake of reports of increasing number of girls who are duped by agents promising job seekers the moon, flying them to countries such as Kuwait only to face hardship and abuse at the hands of some employers.

At least 12 girls are reportedly stranded at a government shelter in Kuwait after their passports were confiscated.

“We have properly registered brokers, but it is the unregistered ones that are duping people,” said Mussa.

He assured Malawian girls stranded in Kuwait that government is doing everything possible to bring them back home.

Mussa also clarified that he did not go to Kuwait to meet his counterpart as earlier reported, but in Geneva for an annual convention of labour ministers and wanted to take advantage of that gathering to meet Hind Al-Sabeeh who had left before the timing of the meeting.

A recent report stated that legal flaws in the current migration laws are fuelling unregulated labour export.