Ethiopia has banned domestic workers from moving overseas for employment, following an "exodus" of workers from leaving the country through illegal placement agencies, officials said Friday. "This exodus, being pushed by illegal human traffickers, has created immense problems for the people of the nation, for the image of the country," foreign affairs spokesman Dina Mufti told AFP.
Overseas employment agencies are ubiquitous in the country, and Dina said many agencies lure Ethiopians into working abroad illegally and in appalling conditions. "It's affecting a lot of youngsters who are pushed out, deceived by the human traffickers, that has created an immense socio-economic problem for the country," he said.
Ethiopia's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said that 200,000 women left the country in 2012 seeking work, mainly in the Middle East. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said many Ethiopia domestic workers - mostly female - are subjected to emotional and physical abuse, poor working conditions, low pay and discrimination. In February, a video emerged online showing an Ethiopian maid in Lebanon being dragged by her hair in public by her employers. The female worker later killed herself in hospital. The national unemployment rate is over 20 percent, according to the ILO, with more than 27 percent of females and 13 percent of males jobless.
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