brand-new ban on abroad care employees
Care employee visa system dogged by abuse, exploitation
*
New guidelines dash hopes in Zimbabwe, Nigeria
By Farai Shawn Matiashe and Nelson Chigozirim
MUTARE, Zimbabwe/LAGOS, June 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – W hen Loveness got a job deal from an English care service provider in March, the 32-year-old Zimbabwean thought her imagine constructing a brand-new life abroad were lastly coming to life.
But simply weeks later on, the business informed her they could not proceed because of new guidelines requiring care service providers to prioritise using employees currently in Britain.
Now the British federal government has stated it plans to stop the recruitment of overseas care employees altogether as part of sweeping immigration reforms. Industry bodies worry the sector will struggle to supply quality care without foreign workers.
For Loveness, who did not want to provide her surname due to the sensitivity of the topic, the modifications signal an abrupt end to her hopes of getting away chronic unemployment in Zimbabwe.
“I had invested all my money into this. And I was this close. Almost,” she stated.
The British government introduced the new guidelines after reports, including by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, revealed extensive exploitation of foreign employees under the Health and Care Worker visa plan, first introduced in 2022.
Many care workers were charged illegal recruitment costs by their sponsors, some gotten here in Britain to find no work, while others said they were treated like slaves.
The federal government has now removed hundreds of rogue companies of their licences to sponsor foreign workers, but this has left those who had currently been employed in requirement of new jobs.
The British visa plan also generated frauds in nations like Zimbabwe, where scammers guaranteed health care credentials that never ever materialised and fake sponsorships.
Loveness, who lives with her other half and child in Budiriro, a suburban area of Harare, had actually already paid $3,000 to a recruitment representative to assist her discover an ideal care service provider – a prevalent practice.
She likewise invested $555 on a tuberculosis test, authorities check and an English language test, and another $300 to get a nurse assistant certificate from the Zimbabwe Red Cross in 2023.
She simply required a certificate of sponsorship, an electronic record provided by a certified company, to protect a visa.
She has not told a few of the people who provided her money to pay for these products that her quest has stopped working.
“I simply can not stand the humiliation.”
‘CRUEL’ POLICY CHANGE
In 2022, Britain opened a new visa path for overseas employees to assist fill more than 160,000 vacancies in the care sector following the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation’s departure from the European Union.
Nearly 20,000 Zimbabweans were approved these UK visas between 2021 and 2024, according to official figures.
Some Zimbabweans left tasks at banks and health clinics to look for work looking after Britain’s aging population. Loveness herself trained as an accounting professional.
Bongani Mazwi Mkwananzi, executive secretary for media and publicity for the Africa Diaspora Forum, which represents Africans abroad, said the UK care visa offered a rare, structured path to employment and monetary stability.
“With domestic unemployment levels extremely high and earnings well listed below the cost of living, the UK opportunity represented a beacon of hope,” he said.
Some had already seen their plans dashed in 2015 when Britain prohibited freshly showing up care workers from bringing household with them.
Yotamu Mlauzi Chagwada, president of the Nurse Aides Association of Zimbabwe Trust, stated the withdrawal of sponsorship offers had actually left some Zimbabweans feeling betrayed.
“Labelling this policy terrible may not be an overstatement, considering the financial and psychological financial investments these caregivers made,” he said.
‘DOOR SLAMMED SHUT’
Jane, who also did not wish to offer her surname, invested $800 on a TB test, authorities clearance, nurse aide certificate and English test.
When the new limitations were enforced, she was still raising cash to pay a recruitment firm.
“It was agonizing. I almost wept. I lost all my money,” said Jane, from the city of Masvingo in southeastern Zimbabwe.
“I am now regretting it. It would have been better if I had started a business.”
In Nigeria, the restriction on overseas care workers is likewise triggering dismay. An approximated 13,418 Nigerian care workers were granted visas to the UK in 2023 and 2024, representing 19% of the overall visas issued for the sector.
Rita, a 31-year-old teacher living in Lagos state, invested months saving for a health care course and paying a representative who guaranteed to secure her a job and sponsorship.
“I seem like my world is collapsing,” she stated in a phone interview. “I’ve compromised a lot … Now it seems like the door to the UK has been knocked shut.”
Emmanuel, a 25-year-old nursing graduate, invested 6 months scouring the web to find a job in Britain and finally got an interview. Today the care provider has actually fallen quiet.
“This is not the very first time we are hearing that the UK federal government desires to stop the care worker visa, but it appears like they suggest company this time,” Emmanuel stated.
“We’ve been glued to our screens, chasing every lead,” he said. “To lastly get an offer and after that hear this news – it’s squashing.”
For Loveness, there was one small piece of luck. Her other half had provided to sell his cars and truck to pay the visa costs if she got a certificate of sponsorship. But he had not yet discovered a purchaser.
Loveness now works in a shop in Harare, but her wage does not even cover her lease.
“I still have actually not provided up. If I get a chance to transfer to other countries like Australia, I will get it,” she stated. (Additional reporting by Nelson Chigozirim in Lagos; modifying by Clar Ni Chonghaile and Ayla Jean Yackley. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit https://context.news/)