40 Ugandan Women Forced Into Prostitution in India Want to Return Home – MP Kanyesigye

What the report says

National Female Youth Representative Mercy Kanyesigye has urged the Ugandan government to help repatriate about 40 women who she said are stranded in India after being trafficked and forced into prostitution. According to the Parliament remarks reported by Nile Post, Kanyesigye said she had received a list of the affected women, who were allegedly taken to India with promises of decent work but later ended up unable to return home.

Kanyesigye said the women want to come back to Uganda but do not have the money or support needed to travel. She called on the ministries responsible for gender, foreign affairs and labour to quickly establish how they can be assisted and to treat them as Ugandans in need of protection.

The lawmaker also used the debate to press government on long-delayed bilateral labour agreements with countries including India, Thailand and Cambodia. She argued that the lack of stronger safeguards leaves Ugandan migrant workers exposed to exploitation, especially when recruited through agencies that may present misleading job offers.

More broadly, the report fits into a recurring regional concern about overseas labour migration and trafficking. In general, such cases often involve vulnerable jobseekers being promised formal employment abroad, only to face coercion, abuse or forced labour after arrival. Nile Post reported Kanyesigye’s appeal for stronger regulation of recruitment agencies and faster protection measures for Ugandans seeking work outside the country.