With promises of financial stability, many Kenyan women migrate to Saudi Arabia for domestic work, but face a harsh reality with numerous deaths and reports of abuse. Government inaction raises further concerns over their safety.**
A Deadly Trade: The Harrowing Fate of Kenyan Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia**
A Deadly Trade: The Harrowing Fate of Kenyan Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia**
Women leaving Kenya for domestic jobs in Saudi Arabia face violence and exploitation, with grim statistics revealing a shocking number of deaths.**
On any given day, hundreds of Kenyan women fill the bustling departure area at Nairobi’s international airport, excited about new job opportunities in Saudi Arabia. Clad in matching T-shirts and sharing aspirations about their earnings—enough to build homes and provide education for their children—these workers carry a sense of hope fueled by company recruiters and encouraged by the Kenyan government.
However, for many, that hope rapidly fades upon arrival back home. The arrivals area is filled with hollow-eyed women returning not only financially drained but also emotionally and physically battered. Many tell haunting tales of unpaid wages, physical abuse, starvation, and sexual assaults. A staggering 274 Kenyan domestic workers have died in Saudi Arabia over the past five years; these numbers represent a staggering decline in safety for a demographic expected to thrive in jobs that are generally secure in other nations. Last year alone recorded 55 deaths, double the figure from the previous year.
Details surrounding these deaths, often attributed to “natural causes” in autopsy reports, raise serious concerns. Many of the deceased exhibited signs of trauma, including burns and electric shocks, highlighting alarming discrepancies between official accounts and the reality of what these women endure. Tragically, many Ugandan workers face similar fates, yet their government provides no corroborating statistics.
The larger narrative reveals a troubling system where women are meant to be protected by officials, such as Fabian Kyule Muli, Kenya’s National Assembly’s vice chairman of the labor committee. Tasked with demanding accountability and protection initiatives, the committee has, thus far, failed to enact substantial change, leading to continuous cycles of death and exploitation among vulnerable migrant workers seeking a better life abroad.
