Beninese women go to work in the Gulf countries in order to earn a living, fulfill their dreams or take care of their families at home. However, their regular migration to some of these countries is full of challenges..

The working conditions of many Beninese women in some Gulf countries remain worrying, according to observers. Respect for workers’ rights, as well as human rights, are singled out. Facts hold opinion on social networks as well as in the media. Videos  on social networks are the receptacle of testimonies and denunciations of cases of violations of the rights of these workers, mainly recruited to be maids or babysitters. In Kuwait, for example, tragic deaths are often recorded even though there are no statistics from official sources. 

However,  the media reported two deaths in April 2023. According to information published by BENIN WEB TV, an online media outlet in Benin, the first death on April 20 was that of Mrs. Justine Adjogbé, victim of a traffic accident, while traveling with her employer and his family. As for the second deceased, named Moropha, she died on the night of April 27, 2023 in a violent fire that targeted the house where she worked. 

According to the same source, the International Federation of Beninese in the Diaspora said that in January 2023, another Beninese woman, named Lucresse Kpoton, lost her life following a heart attack. In 8 months, the Federation counted 05 Beninese deaths in Kuwait. In addition, there are cases of ill-treatment and poor living and working conditions for Beninese domestic workers. Contacted by Dialogue Migration, the president of the federation did not respond to the requested interview.

In August 2022, the World Executive Bureau of the High Council of Beninese Abroad (HCBE) expressed “astonishment, despair and dismay”, after learning “tragically and vaguely”, the death of a Beninese woman named Sabine Oluwatobi KITON in Kuwait.

The association had “deplored this despicable crime which, nowadays, is becoming commonplace within African communities living in some Gulf countries”. He urged Africans residing in these countries in general, and Beninese nationals in particular, to form very supportive communities for a good collaboration with diplomatic representations (consulates and embassies), so that such situations cannot recur.

They had therefore announced that they were working to contact United Nations agencies, the US State Department, as well as all the chancelleries of Kuwait around the world to shed light on such cases and that perpetrators of  “yet another heinous crime” are identified.

Workers’ rights in Kuwait

Migrant women from Benin single out the lack of respect for migrant workers’ rights in some Gulf countries whether it is working conditions, including work hour day, breaks, or rest days.

“My sleep is frequently interrupted, because they come to wake me up at any time when they need me; they come to take things from the room that should be reserved for me, because they have stored things there, “says Awa* (editor’s note: a nickname).

The conditions of contract work lead some to run away and start their own business once the first six months have passed. Because after this period, there is no more intervention from the employment agency or the intermediary to settle a dispute between the employer and the employee. As a result, many do at most 6 months or a year and return to the country, our sources said. Some workers set up their own business instead. This is at their own risk, because if they do not have a residence permit, they will be arrested and imprisoned before being repatriated. “Often, even when intercepted with a residence permit, it is the employer to whom they ran away from who will be called,” say our sources.

At around midnight Cotonou time and 2 a.m. Kuwait time, Awa* claims to be doing laundry. She does not yet know what time she will sleep. Stressing that it is at this time that the house is very lively and busy. She resigns herself, “Here you do not know when you will sleep, we will get out of it thanks to God w. We’re already used to it,” she says. She presents  among many other facts collected from various sources on work-related constraints.

Living in Kuwait after 4 years in Lebanon, Yasmine* (editor’s note: a nickname) notes the clear difference in treatment between the two countries as a result of her experiences. Currently she is on a two-year contract in Kuwait, but does not mince her words. The terms of the contract, she notes, expose the workers, who for the most part are housekeepers or babysitters. “The contracts are for two years, and if you don’t finish and the employment agency has to change your employer, you start from scratch,” she says. Her statement  has been cross-checked and confirmed by other workers.

According to corroborating sources from women working in the Gulf countries, the agencies are mostly run by Philippine nationals. Countries from which women workers also come. However, in Benin, there are intermediaries who liaise between workers and agencies. The latter often have a work commission, i.e. the first two months’ salary to be received by the worker. Before obtaining the visa, the employer (the boss most of the time) from the country of destination pays the necessary fees for the necessary paperwork for this purpose. So once at the destination, the employer comes to pick her up at the agency paying a six months’ deposit.

Sometimes documents are confiscated by the employer, our sources say. And any departure from the employer who brought the worker before the first six months, whatever the reasons, is subject to reimbursements from the deposit. The agency may, however, find conciliation for complaints or change the place of work of the employee, workers indicated. However, any new workplace requires a new irreducible two-year contract. “Even if you’re on a contract and there’s one month left for it to be two years, and you leave your employer for one reason or another, you start from scratch elsewhere. Because you signed a two-year contract with the agency,” says Sherifa* (editor’s note: a nickname).

This situation makes some run away to start their own business. A Reprehensible attitude in case the police apprehend the worker.

“The statement of the employer who has completed the formalities of arrival in the country, can lead the police to intercept her and send you back to your country. In the worst case with a mention on your passport that may prohibit you from entering their territory again, “says Sherifa .

Dialogue Migration found out that opinions converge with some nuances on the living and working conditions of Beninese women in some Gulf countries. Evelyne* (editor’s note: a nickname) is originally from central Benin. She returned from Kuwait in April 2023 after a one-year contract negotiated before leaving the country with her boss. She says she has maintained a good relationship with her boss so far. This with a view to likely return to Kuwait as agreed in case her personal project implemented in Benin fails.

However, she sees situations that some of her compatriots are experiencing, which she disapproves of. She also identifies cases of deviance. “There are also some of our sisters who ignore the recommendations of their bosses,” she says. According to her, some bosses do not want their residence or certain places like their bedroom to be filmed for example.

She argues that most bosses do not accept the use of telephones by their employees. Unlike others who are more tolerant. “Some also have no rest days, where they are required to go out only in work uniforms,” she notes.  Which often puts a  label on them, not to mention the police checks in the street or in shopping malls to check if their situation in the country is regular, under penalty of being deported in case otherwise.

Deafening silence from the competent authorities

Beninese women working in some Gulf countries sometimes feel abandoned by their country’s authorities.

“Here in Kuwait, apart from Beninese women, there are the Philippines, Ethiopian women and others. Ethiopian women, for example, their consul does not joke about their situation. This makes people afraid of mistreating them,” says Sherifa. It notes the variation of the salary according to the country of origin.

A situation that also concerns the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Benin (CSA-Benin) which, through the Multi-Stakeholder Platform on Migration in Benin (PMB), has published a book entitled  “Voice of migrant workers of Benin“. A collection of testimonies that gives voice to Beninese migrant women who have narrated their experiences. Quite dramatic stories of violations, sexual violence, slavery, imprisonment etc. “In fact, this book shows us that people make a completely legal, official, regular trip but will meet hell as soon as they arrive there,” says Anselme Amoussou, secretary general of CSA-Benin and coordinator of the PMB.

The objective of this book was to talk to families, most of whom are complicit and facilitate the departure of these women who have no qualifications or diplomas and who have not done any training before  themselves into such adventure.  They are sold dreams and employment agencies are present almost officially in full sight of everyone and who finance the trip, the preparations, the visa and everything …

In addition to parents, he stresses the need to also draw the attention of officials and authorities to the fact that when a state has agreements with other states, they must take care of things other than everything basic and official (passport, visa, tests), and know that people have left without worrying about their future.

“Usually history has shown that it’s not enough.  Because in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, we were told that women from a country, like Ethiopia, are paid less poorly than Beninese women precisely because their ambassador does not joke. Meanwhile in Benin, there is really no echo of the calls of women who are often in distress. And an even more dramatic situation is that Benin has chosen to do a kind of rationalization of our diplomatic presences, which has meant that consulates and embassies have been closed and therefore people have found themselves hundreds of kilometers from a Beninese representation, so they have absolutely no recourse.”

The paradox

In Benin, women who return from their adventure in the Gulf countries are listened to by NGOs. Also through the popularization of collections of testimonies in middle and high schools, as well as with migrant women and migrant men to present them with some stories and show them the responsibility to ensure that their daughters are not delivered so easily to predators. However, there is a paradox. “This is one of the major lessons of this struggle that we have made. In reality, you see women telling you about their hell, crying as they tell the story, but concluding by saying they want to leave “, says Anselme Amoussou. And for good reason, observes the trade unionist, this is due to the fact that in return, there is nothing in place here to give them hope. “They have come back and they prefer hell there to a life of idleness here. A life without perspective, a life without a future and therefore decide to leave, and fight to leave. It challenges us and our rulers the most to understand that a compatriot, a citizen, a citizen who has been raped, who has been treated like a slave, who has worked from 5 a.m. to midnight straight, who has slept in caterpillars in cagibi etc., but who after some time in his/her country decides to leave again, means that we have all failed. The country has completely failed.”

Indeed, the majority decides to leave despite the situation in the host country. There are some who decide to change countries because they have learned that it is better on the other side. On the other hand, “There are some who decide to leave because at least there, they feel that shame is hidden from relatives; and that there is a salary, and when it comes in it has nothing comparable to what we can pay them here for the same activities. And above all, it is that the family offers nothing, the town hall offers nothing, the government offers nothing, so they are completely forgotten. In fact, these are people who are so disillusioned that they no longer expect anything from anyone. And think that they have to fend for themselves, so ask that they are left to fend for themselves, “concludes the trade unionist.

The case of a victim who has converted to play a bigger role in the smuggling  the chain is also noted. “We had during the collection of testimonies the case of someone who turned into a smuggler. As she was sent and did her test, she came back, she settled down to send the girls. She has kept some contacts there and so she is like an unofficial agency. At the time we spoke with her, she had at her home 4 to 5 girls from Bassila de Djougou and others, whom she kept so that she could send them there”, says Anselme Amoussou.

The competent authorities are expected to act on the issue in the face of agencies that continue to prosper, and the flowering of canvassers in localities that continue to tell women “I have an opportunity, you will leave” and as soon as you arrive there the passport is confiscated, and the work begins immediately … 

Faced with the situation in Benin, non-governmental structures are often active but have the impression that most of the cases related at the official level do not have a great echo.  In January 2023, Benin’s Court for the Suppression of Economic Crimes and Terrorism (CRIET) convicted defendants in a case of trafficking of false passports and human beings to Kuwait. From these experiences, it can be observed that apart from illegal migration, which exposes people to adventures, legal migration is no less so full of risks.