Mother's Testimony Exposes 'Systematic Chain of Trafficking' as Kenya Confronts Gulf Labour Crisis

Caroline Wanjiru, a 27-year-old mother of two from Kenya, dreamt of building her mother a house. To fund that dream, she secured employment through a recruitment agency and departed for Saudi Arabia on January 17, 2023, to work as a domestic worker in Absa. Within months, she was dead.

Her mother, identified in The Star newspaper only as GM to protect the family's privacy, recounted the immense difficulty in repatriating her daughter's body—spending two months shuttling between the recruitment agency's premises and the Foreign Affairs office in a process fraught with financial disputes. "The agent ran away. He did not answer our calls. We could not get him in the office," GM told The Star in testimony published May 20, 2026.

The employer initially refused to cover the hospital bills or the cost of the flight, claiming Wanjiru was still within her probationary period. "What I can say is that both failed me," GM said, referring to the Kenyan government and the recruitment agency that sent her daughter abroad.

A pattern of exploitation and death

Wanjiru's case is not isolated. Advocates at the Global Justice Centre describe a "systematic chain of trafficking" that begins long before a worker sets foot in the Gulf. Recruits are often coerced or deceived by individuals close to them—friends or family members—who paint a false picture of working conditions abroad. Vulnerable individuals, particularly single parents or victims of gender-based violence trying to escape, are frequently subjected to debt bondage when recruiters charge exorbitant fees ranging from Sh80,000 to Sh150,000.

According to workers' rights groups interviewed by The Star, many migrants are misinformed during their mandatory pre-departure training in Kenya. "They are not educated on their rights. The only thing they are warned about is that you shouldn't say no to your employer. You should always be submissive," advocates said.

It is common, though illegal, for employers to confiscate passports and contracts of domestic workers immediately upon their arrival at the airport. Contracts are frequently altered or presented only at airport check-in, leaving migrants completely unaware of their precise working conditions until they land. In the most severe cases, workers endure extensive physical and sexual assault, returning home with catastrophic injuries, dislocated spinal discs from forced hard labour, or permanent disabilities.

A 2025 New York Times investigation found Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia "had their passports confiscated, wages denied and food withheld." At least 274 Kenyan workers, mostly women, have died in Saudi Arabia in the past five years, according to the investigation. A study commissioned by the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery found that the prevalence of forced labor violations among the Kenyan migrant population in Gulf Cooperation Council countries was over 95 percent—meaning practically everyone heading to the Gulf as a migrant worker from Kenya becomes a victim of forced labor at some point.

Government accountability under scrutiny

Pressure is now mounting on the Kenyan government to strengthen bilateral labour safeguards, regulate agencies more aggressively, and establish meaningful support systems for distressed returnees and bereaved families. In a May 7 report to the Senate Standing Committee on Labour Migration, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi highlighted the rising dangers Kenyans are experiencing abroad.

"The Ministry has recorded a marked escalation in fraudulent recruitment and labour exploitation of Kenyan nationals abroad, reflecting a shift toward increasingly organised, transnational, and technology-driven exploitation networks," Mudavadi wrote. Gulf countries, particularly Qatar and Dubai, were singled out, with Mudavadi warning of rogue recruitment networks that smuggle Kenyans and expose them to exploitation and abuse due to weak oversight in the recruitment process.

Yet regulatory efforts have been minimal and undermined by influential political figures who often have personal or financial ties to recruitment agencies, according to the European Centre for Development and Human Rights. Even Kenya's Commission on Administrative Justice disclosed interference by politicians as a major obstacle to reform.

According to the latest data from Diaspora Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu, over 400,000 Kenyans are living and working in the Gulf. Despite known dangers, President William Ruto's administration aims to send up to half a million workers to Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom is now one of Kenya's largest sources of remittances.

What this means for families

For GM and the two young boys Caroline Wanjiru left behind—then aged six and five—the dream of a house has been replaced by a nightmare of unanswered questions and unresolved grief. "Each time I'm in the house, I expect her to just appear and knock on the door," GM's testimony concluded. "The only thing that will give me peace is to see my daughter's body."

Amnesty International Kenya has called upon the Kenyan government to invest more in safe houses and responsive complaint mechanisms. Legislators have been urged to expedite the passage of the Kenyan Migrant Workers Welfare Fund, aimed at providing financial resources for the protection and support of migrant workers. The Government has been lauded for setting up a toll-free number for Kenyans in distress to call for assistance—but advocates say far more comprehensive reform is needed to dismantle what they describe as a system that prioritizes profit over human life.

Reporting drawn from The Star Kenya, Kenyans.co.ke, Breaking Kenya News, NORC at the University of Chicago, European Centre for Development and Human Rights.