The Kenyan government has handed over some 90 Ugandan girls to the authorities in Kampala after they were intercepted as they were being illegally trafficked through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the United Arab Emirates.
The spokesperson of Uganda’s Directorate for Criminal Investigations Twine Charles said on Thursday that they had worked with their Kenyan counterparts to intercept the girls after an intelligence tip-off.
He said according to their preliminary engagement the girls aged between 14 to 18 years confirmed that they had been trafficked from parts of Uganda’s Karamoja region.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) has of late become a hub for the trafficking of girls from Uganda most of whom are enlisted as domestic workers.
While records show that more than 140,000 Ugandan girls are working as domestic workers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among other countries, a majority of them are reported to be victims of human trafficking.
There have been several reports suggesting mistreatment of Ugandan workers in the Middle East and according to Uganda government majority of those subjected to hardships were trafficked by unscrupulous persons or dubious labour export companies.
CN/as/APA