Pressure is mounting for government to facilitate the repatriation of about 400 Malawians stuck in Oman where their employment deals reportedly turned sour.

One of the women we spoke to on condition of anonymity, said she feels helpless and neglected by government.

“I have been talking to several people, sending messages explaining what we are going through here [in Oman], but none seems to care. We are dying here and nobody is bothered,” she said.

The women allege sexual and physical abuse by their employers.

Kamtukule: Some coming back

In an interview yesterday, Global Hope Mobilisation executive director Caleb Thole said the slow pace in responding to the issue of the stranded women is not painting a good picture of government in terms of its response to human trafficking.

He said: “It is government’s responsibility to ensure that its citizens are safe in or outside Malawi. It should look for funds and repatriate the women despite the circumstances that led them there.”

The Malawi delegation that went to Oman in October this year recommended that government should pay about $114 000 (about K114 million) to the employment agents or sponsors so that they allow the women to come back home.

But in a separate interview, Minister of Labour Vera Kamtukule said government is still looking for funds for the repatriation of the women.

She said: “We are still processing their repatriation. In fact, some are coming back on their own, but the numbers of those wanting help are increasing each day.

“There are also some who don’t want to come back. We are in touch with them and they will be helped.”

Kamtukule said the major challenge is the refund of about K2.5 million per woman that the people who facilitated their transportation of the women to Oman are demanding to release their documents.

Thole corroborated Kamtukule’s sentiments, saying those with contracts of employment can only come back if they repay the money to the employment agents or sponsor.

Rumphi East legislator Kamlepo Kalua (Democratic Progressive Party) last week told Parliament he had received reports that two Malawians in Qatar and Oman had died and he urged government through Ministry of Foreign Affairs to repatriate their bodies.

But Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Kabaghe told The Nation earlier that due to the nature of their recruitment, their discharge faces hurdles.

Meanwhile, eight suspects, including three police officers, a medical officer, an immigration officer and three businesspersons are answering a human trafficking case at the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court on the Oman ‘slavery’ deal.

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