Zimbabwean Women ‘Imprisoned’ in Oman, Beaten and Forced to Work for Low Pay

• Zimbabwean women are being forced to work for low wages and are suffering physical abuse at the hand of their employers
• Some have had their passports confiscated and are essentially imprisoned in the houses that they clean
• They signed up for the Kafala visa sponsorship programme, the system has been condemned as being abusive and exploitive by Human Rights Watch

OMAN - In what can be considered a form of slavery, Zimbabwean women are being beaten and forced to work for very little pay in Oman. They signed up for the Kafala visa sponsorship programme and have become trapped in the Middle East.

The visa forces the women to remain in their current jobs until the contract expires. Reports have cited the Zimbabwean foreign minister, Lovemore Mazemo saying that the women were being forced to work 18-hour shifts, were being underpaid and were not allowed to leave the houses they are living in.

Read also

Xenophobic tensions spill over in Bredasdorp, residents and foreigners clash

The employees are also allegedly being beaten, have had their passports confiscated and have in some cases allegedly been denied adequate food according to TimesLive.

He has said that the embassy has suggested that the department of social welfare should take measures to rescue some of the women.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the Kafala visa programme and called for it to be abolished on the grounds that it is abusive and exploitive according to NewZimbabwe.

"Grant amnesty": DA slams scapegoating foreigners, proposes migration policy

Earlier, Briefly News reported that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is making its voice heard in the ongoing clamour caused by members of the Operation Dudula Movement for foreigners to leave South Africa and head back to their countries of origin.

Read also

Members of Parliament slam Operation Dudula, say it infringes on rights of foreign nationals

The official opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has drafted a proposal in which it suggests that undocumented foreign nationals be given clemency to leave and attempt to re-enter the country lawfully or apply for visas.

The party's stance comes on the backdrop of clashes between foreign-shop owners and Dudula ("push back") movement members in Johannesburg's Alexandra township in the past several days.

Shops and other businesses were forced to close their doors as the group swept across the area to locate migrant workers and employers who did not possess valid documentation, TimesLIVE reported.

Source: Briefly News