Nairobi - Delegates representing the United Republic of Tanzania met with representatives from the Government of the Republic of Kenya, to share knowledge, experiences and exchange ideas on good practices, and challenges, when dealing with the protection of their respective migrant workers’ rights.

The meeting was organized within the cooperation framework of the Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration (RMFM). The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM/UN Migration) Regional Office for East and Horn of Africa (EHOA) in close coordination with the IOM offices in Kenya and Tanzania offer technical and operational support to strengthen bilateral relations on labour migration governance for the Governments of United Republic of Tanzania and the Government of the Republic of Kenya.

Labour migration is common in the United Republic of Tanzania, and mainly informed by the pursuit of better economic opportunities across the mainland and Zanzibar, to neighbouring East Africa Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, North America, Europe, and the Gulf. Additionally, a significant number of migrants from the EHOA region live and work in the United Republic of Tanzania. Many East Africans migrating for employment are attracted to the countries where they work in low or semi-skilled jobs such as domestic work (which is usually undertaken by women migrant workers), leaving these workers at increased risk of being trafficked, smuggled, exploited, and abused. 

Ms. Rosemary Jairo, the Assistant Director, Department of Politics, Defense and Security from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania stated that the “Benchmarking meetings should continue as a forum for examining best practices and to examine the opportunities that migration can bring for the well-being of the United Republic of Tanzania, the continent, and the world.” Furthermore, in her speech she appreciated the support of IOM Tanzania and stated that the government of Tanzania welcomes IOM support to push forward the agenda of Labour migration especially on strengthening the policies and laws governing migration, capacitation of the Private Recruitment agencies, and strengthening implementation of Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements.  

Labour migration has become a high foreign exchange earner in the region. There are currently over 4 million Kenyans abroad and remittance inflows to Kenya have increased tenfold in the last 15 years, reaching an all-time record of USD 3.1 billion in 2020. This phenomenal growth points to the importance of remittances as a source of foreign exchange to the country, equivalent to more than 3 percent of Kenya's GDP. In Tanzania, inflows of remittances were $570 million USD in 2021, up 42% from the $400 million in 2020. The United Republic of Tanzania has made tremendous strides in labour migration governance, with the new operational guidelines for Private Recruitment Agencies, as well as their signing of the Bilateral Labour Agreement with Qatar. 

IOM/UN Migration’s Senior Regional Specialist for Labour Mobility and Social Inclusion Tatiana Hadjimmaneuel stated that the benchmarking bilateral exercise reinforces the objectives of the Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration (RMFM) which aims to support EHOA RMFM Member States  in formulating policy, legal and institutional frameworks necessary to ensure the long-term protection of migrant workers rights and guarantee good governance on safe, orderly and human labour migration.

Where it concerns the development and implementation of BLMAs, ethical recruitment, and regulation of Private Recruitment Agencies (PRAs), Kenya is comparatively more advanced to other RMFM EHOA Member States . Kenya’s experience in labour migration governance for development lends itself well to an enhanced understanding and enables them to serve as a yardstick for other countries in the EHOA. 

Madam Winnie Karangithi, the Director for the State Department of Labour and Skills Development for Kenya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and host of the benchmarking meeting, reiterated that “Given the milestones that Kenya has achieved, we still see the added value of a regional approach to maximize our bargaining power as well as the RMFM objectives aimed at harmonizing labour migration governance across the region. One of the major lessons the country has learnt, is that Labour migration management requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders involved both at the national and regional level, hence the reason for the benchmarking.” Madam Karingithi emphasized the Government of Kenya  appreciation for the presence of their Tanzanian counterparts, while highlighting that the region’s countries all bear similar issues when it comes to labour migration and protection of migrant workers’ rights and referenced how the RMFM is working to resolve some of those issues.

The RMFM brings together two Regional Economic Communities (RECs) - the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and the East African Community (EAC) as well. RMFM objectives align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as Objectives of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) that refer to fair and ethical recruitment and strengthening international cooperation respectively.

The bilateral benchmarking meeting was supported by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom as part of the IOM/UN Migration’s Better Regional Migration Management (BRMM), with the objective of expanding knowledge and lessons-learned through bilateral dialogue between the two countries. The engagement featured Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMAs), ethical recruitment, international migration law, migrant workers’ rights, licensing, oversight of private recruitment agencies, and consular cooperation. 

For more information, please contact Regional Program Communication Officer Janet Adongo on jadongo@iom.int or +254722750152