An Oman based labour recruitment agency is holding two Ugandan girls who were reportedly trafficked through Kenya.
A trafficker identified as Issa Kisekka was reportedly paid more than $4000 (about UGX14m) by the agency for the two girls.
According to the Daily Monitor, the two girls, Joyce Nanyonjo and Resty Namusisi aged 24 and 20, are being held in a safe house in Oman’s capital, Muscat.
The girls’ health conditions are deteriorating following the continued detention.
Local media, which saw a leakage conversation between the agency and the human trafficker, says one of the girls has a rotting breast.
The recruitment agency has been torturing the girls, according to a human rights activist.
“I called him via IMO and he said he will torture them and when they are about to die, he will deport or kill them,” Daily Monitor quotes Miriam Mwiza.
The two girls being held by the Oman recruitment agency have tough conditions to fulfil to earn their freedom.
The conditions include working until their contract expires, paying back the money given to the trafficker or contacting their parents back in Uganda to refund the money.
The company reportedly pays $2,000 (7.3m) on condition that it is refunded in case a girl fails to either meet standards or work as agreed.
At least 40,000 Ugandans currently live and work in the UAE.
In 2017, the government lifted a ban on labour export to the Middle East to allow Ugandans seek jobs.
A ban had been imposed on the externalization of workers after reports poor working conditions and hostility against Ugandan workers in the Middle East.
