6.2 Recommendations: The Way Forward - Sierra Leone

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The issues that most Sierra Leonean women in Oman face start in their home country. In early 2019, the government put a ban on Sierra Leoneans from working abroad to prevent exploitation. However, this created illegal and unsafe recruitment channels and higher vulnerability to trafficking. The ban was lifted in April 2021, with the objective of creating access to safe and legal migration. 

Sierra Leone has made significant efforts to address human trafficking and protect its nationals from exploitation. It has developed the Labor Migration Policy, the National Migration Policy, the National Action Plan Against Trafficking in Person for the period of 2020 to 2023, the Government’s National Medium Term Development Plan (2019-2023) and different institutional reforms such as establishing district task forces for combating human trafficking. In addition, it became a signatory to the ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers, which will come into force in August 2022. 

However, through our research, we found considerable important issues that need to be addressed with utmost urgency to prevent the continued trafficking of women to Oman.

Recommendations to Strengthen Implementation and Enforcement

Strengthen regulations on fair and ethical recruitment to ensure conditions that provide decent work. 

After lifting the ban in April 2021, the Sierra Leonean Government made efforts to address human trafficking. The Labour Ministry started a vetting process for all recruitment agencies that recruit Sierra Leoneans who want to work abroad. Later in 2021, Labour Officials started to work with SOS Global Investment in Ghana, a job placement company, to take full charge of the departure of Sierra Leonean migrant workers. Following these efforts we recommend further strengthening regulations on fair and ethical recruitment ensuring conditions that provide decent work by: 

  • Strengthening the implementation and enforcement of the Labour Migration Policy; 
  • Developing a comprehensive approach to achieve fair recruitment, using the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines on Fair Recruitment  (ILO GPOG) and the Montreal Recommendations on Recruitment: A Road Map towards Better Regulation to regulate the recruitment sector;
  • Ensuring that recruitment agencies, whether SOS Global Investment or any other recruitment agency, are regulated, monitored and hold accountable for wrongdoings;
  • Ensuring that, as per Convention 189, recruitment agencies provide all workers who will take domestic work overseas with a written job offer or contract of employment (Oman domestic workers contract), where all terms and conditions are stated, before the worker decides to take the employment offer and sign the contract. Special provisions must also be put in place to make sure that those who cannot read are still aware of the contracts’ terms and conditions;
  • Prohibiting recruitment agencies and / or contracted agencies from charging any recruitment fees, including processing fees or training fees.



Strengthen the implementation of a safe, independent, and accessible national grievance mechanism to report human trafficking, including unlicensed or unethical recruitment agencies and/or irregular brokers. 

Currently, the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone has a grievance mechanism in place where individuals can submit complaints online, by telephone (including WhatsApp) or by going directly to their offices. We recommend ensuring that this, or any other form of grievance mechanism follows best practices that include:

    • Safe. It must be ensured that all Sierra Leoneans can raise a grievance without the fear of retaliation from anyone including Law Enforcement Officers. If a WhatsApp number is available, it should represent the entity by having a relevant profile and timely response. 
    • Accessible. The grievance mechanisms must be accessible in practice, including for those that are in remote locations, marginalised or excluded, including those who can not read or write. It should eliminate complex administrative procedures and it must be accessible through different mediums. The grievance mechanism should be available seven days a week 24 hours a day including holidays. It should also be inclusive and accessible to all in line with President Julius Maada Bio’s vision for an inclusive nation. 
    • Transparent. All steps that follow the submission of a grievance must be clear and set out for all to understand. It should also include approximate timelines. This information should be directly on the website in a language that is easy to understand and without having to download or read through the Complaint Rules and Procedures to obtain this information, as is currently the case. This helps to create transparency and trust in the system. 
  • Responsive. All grievances should be responded to promptly and without delay. If no one is available via phone or WhatsApp, ensure that there is an automatic answer responding accordingly. All questions should be addressed and answered.
  • Independent. The entity responsible for receiving complaints must be independent of all other entities. 
  • Fair. Investigations and remedies must be fair and lead to outcomes that are consistent with national policies and efforts. All investigations must be impartial.



Continue to strengthen efforts for victims of human trafficking to access justice, and investigate, prosecute and convict traffickers, including those that facilitate it.

Access to justice and investigations, prosecutions and convictions of traffickers, including those that facilitate it, is a crucial step to combat human trafficking in the country. We recommend:

  • Addressing corruption, bribery and extortion in all relevant departments, especially with the Sierra Leone Police Force, to ensure victims of human trafficking can access justice freely and safely; 
  • Investigating promptly and holding firmly accountable those who facilitate or were part of any form of corruption within the judicial system or police;
  • Avoiding procedural delays, thus increasing efficiency and trust in the judicial system;
  • Investigating, prosecuting and convicting recruiting agency owners, recruiters, brokers and/or any entity or individual engaging in unethical, or illegal recruitment such as charging recruitment fees, practising deception, threats or any other kind of abuse for the purpose of recruitment;
  • Increasing the penalties for convicted traffickers, so justice is appropriate, meaningful, and guarantees non-repetition;
  • Investigating, prosecuting and convicting hospitals, medical facilities and/or clinics for the manipulation of health tests for the purpose of migration; 
  • Ensuring effective victim protection during investigations and prosecution;
  • Continuing to provide victims who need it, with transportation to make sure they do not miss their appointments.

Strengthen remedy efforts to address human trafficking. 

Remedy is a key element for supporting a victims’ recovery, reinstating their rights and preventing re-victimisation. Sierra Leone, as a signatory to the Palermo Protocol, should ‘ensure its domestic legal system contains measures that offer victims of trafficking in persons the possibility of obtaining compensation for damage suffered.’ These remedies taken from the ‘Draft Basic Principles on the right to an effective remedy for victims of trafficking in persons’ developed by the Special Rapporteur should include:

  • Restitution. To restore the victim to their original situation before trafficking or exploitation occurred as best as possible. For those trafficked outside of Sierra Leone, this should include reintegration support and addressing root causes of trafficking to ensure that upon victims return to the pre-existing situation will not put her at risk of being trafficked. 
  • Rehabilitation and recovery. This should include medical and psychological care, as well as providing an accessible shelter and access to medical services. It should also include information about their legal rights and how to access justice. This support should consider a non-conditional recovery period.
  • Compensation. Financial support can help a victim to rebuild their life. This includes, for example, access to compensation from the State for injuries and damages and mechanisms created for victims of human trafficking to recoup any fees paid to recruiters/brokers/traffickers.

Increase awareness to prevent human trafficking.

Increasing awareness on human trafficking is the first step for an effective anti-trafficking strategy. We recommend:

  • Creating a public awareness campaign to improve awareness of safe migration practices in line with Convention 189 and the Dhaka Principles. The campaign should include information on:
    • What is ethical recruitment and what is not
    • The prohibition of recruitment fees
    • How to identify red flags for deception/human trafficking 
    • How to access a hotline and report any issues
  • The campaign should ensure it targets vulnerable populations, especially women who are:
    • Between the ages of 22 and 40 years old (see Demographics, reasons for migrating and migration routes)
    • Breadwinners, especially those who lack family support (e.g. single mothers, orphans, parents with disabilities, etc.) (see Reasons for migrating)
    • Living in poverty 
    • In the rural areas (see Who is the recruiter?)
  • Requiring an educational session for migrating Sierra Leoneans to prepare them with reliable and accurate information on employment and life in the Gulf Countries. This should include an explanation of proper recruitment practices, signs of potential human trafficking, labour and sexual exploitation, and information on available grievance mechanisms in relevant countries in case when and if support is needed. 



Continue strengthening collaboration with Guinea to prevent smuggling and human trafficking between countries.

Guinea being identified as the main country from which Sierra Leoneans travelled to Oman, it is important to strengthen enforcement and monitoring mechanisms to prevent smuggling and human trafficking between countries. We recommend: 

  • Continuing to strengthen monitoring of porous border points, and develop relevant processes to prevent Sierra Leoneans being smuggled through these points, including by addressing corruption and bribery;  
  • Continuing to increase border control at relevant entry points;
  • Addressing gaps in policies, implementation and enforcement, to disrupt smuggling and trafficking networks.




Ensure clear regulations are in place that prohibit employers from confiscating or withholding any personal documents to address the widespread practice of confiscating domestic workers’ passports

It has been observed that different reports and articles mention a circular that prohibits the confiscation and withholding of workers’ passports, including those of domestic workers.  However, this circular is not publicly available and thus it is not clear whether it is actually prohibited. Nevertheless, it is important to monitor and enforce the prohibition of confiscating and withholding workers’ passports as it is a common practice. We recommend:

  • Prohibiting and criminalising the confiscation and withholding of a domestic worker’s documents. A regulation must be in place to prohibit the confiscation and/or withholding of domestic workers. This regulation should also state the penalties when and if an employer or recruitment office is found to have confiscated and/or is withholding a domestic worker’s documents. This regulation must be monitored and strictly enforced.

It is important to make sure that this prohibition is clear and communicated to recruitment offices and society through awareness raising campaigns. In addition, continuous monitoring must be in place, holding accountable those responsible for confiscating domestic workers’ passports and contributing (knowingly or otherwise) to human trafficking and forced labour. 

Criminalise all forms of violence in the workplace, including the domestic work sector, to address all forms of violence and harassment

In Oman there are no laws that specifically protect domestic workers from workplace violence or harassment. We recommend:

  • Developing legislation to criminalise all forms of workplace violence and harassment that include the domestic work sector and that applies to both recruiting offices and homes, the place of employment.

See Recommendations 1 - 15 for Oman
Recommendations for Oman & Sierra Leone

Collaboration by both countries is vital for the effective prevention of human trafficking of Sierra Leoneans to Oman. This collaboration should, among other things, help to better regulate and monitor recruitment and protect the rights of domestic workers. 

It is our understanding that a bilateral agreement between both countries related to migrant workers is in process and that Oman has drafted an agreement that is currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in Sierra Leone. This agreement should set the basic standards of cooperation to help better protect Sierra Leonean women domestic workers from human trafficking and forced labour. 

Creating an effective and transparent collaborative relationship to protect domestic workers.
This should include:

  • A bilateral agreement, such as the one in process, that specifically protects domestic workers from Sierra Leone in Oman. The level of protection should not be relevant to the power of the origin or destination country. This agreement, if possible, should include collaboration with transit countries such as Guinea and Senegal;
  • Development of a mutually acceptable recruitment and monitoring system designed to prevent and address human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. This system should ensure that the recruitment of domestic workers from Sierra Leone to Oman is processed only through fair and ethical recruitment agencies that are duly licenced and monitored by their respective countries;
  • Development of an automatic, or without delay, reporting process to the Embassy of Sierra Leone in Saudi Arabia of arrests of Sierra Leonean nationals by the Oman Ministry of Labour and Royal Oman Police. This will expedite repatriations and deportations; 
  • Presence of a labour attaché or a representative of the Sierra Leonean Government in Oman.

Make priority to address the current situation of Sierra Leoneans domestic workers in Oman who want to return home but are unable to. 

There is an extremely high number of Sierra Leoneans in Oman who are victims of human trafficking and/or exploitation and who want to return home but are unable to. The main reason for not being able to return is the presence of “absconding” charges and/or because their employers are asking for “release money” to be allowed to return home. (Note: There are many others who wish to stay in Oman and work under better conditions or in another sector. To address the needs of these workers, see Recommendation 3.) To address this situation we recommend:

  • For those who have left their employers: 
    • For Oman to put in place an amnesty to allow all Sierra Leoneans to return to their country of origin regardless of “absconding” charges, visas status or immigration fines;
  • For those who are still with their employers: 
    • For Oman to conduct a human trafficking and/or forced labour screening, following a similar approach used for this report, with all Sierra Leonean domestic workers in the countryand offer repatriation support to any victims who wish to return;
  • For Oman and Sierra Leone to reach an agreement by which Oman can provide exit passes to all Sierra Leoneans to exit Oman without having to negotiate with the employer for the return of their passport nor having to request an Emergency Travel Certificate from the Sierra Leone Embassy in Riyadh; 
  • For Oman and Sierra Leone to engage with relevant stakeholders (including the potential of working with international organisations) that can support the safe and voluntary repatriation of these women, including the coverage of flight tickets and other travel expenses;
  • For Sierra Leone to waive all health declaration fees for Sierra Leoneans returning from Oman under this amnesty or those receiving repatriation support. 

In addition to these recommendations, we would also highly recommend for Oman to investigate the reasons for which Sierra Leoneans domestic workers have left their employer, identify victims of trafficking and/or exploitation, and recuperate wages on behalf of these women – as long as it does not significantly delay the repatriation of the women. We would also highly recommend for Sierra Leone to open investigations to identify the recruiters of these victims of human trafficking and prosecute and convict accordingly. We also recommend they provide reintegration support to this group of women.   

6.1 RECOMMENDATIONS OMAN

7. CONCLUSION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION
Read about domestic workers in Oman, legal framework, the COVID-19 pandemic and background information on the project.

4. FINDINGS
Read about our findings where we identified gaps in government policy as well as widespread practices that allow issues to exist and thrive.

6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS SIERRA LEONE

You are here.

2. METHODOLOGY
Information on the project framework and source of data and documented knowledge.

5. SUPPORT

Our efforts supporting victims of human trafficking and forced labour.

7. CONCLUSION
Our findings identify a significant and largely overlooked issue that requires an immediate response.

3. STORIES THAT MATTER
Read three stories to remind us how issues are interlinked and woven into each other.

6.1 RECOMMENDATIONS OMAN

15 recommendations to protect domestic workers at a policy and implementation level.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project would not have been possible without the support, partnerships and collaboration with others.

FULL REPORT
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