Dr Farah Kalmey, lecturer and consultant at OXUS Management Consultants, Nairobi
What if the price of sending money home is quietly destroying the person sending it?
Every month, thousands of Kenyans working abroad send money home to pay school fees, build houses, support parents and keep businesses running. Their remittances are celebrated as a vital contribution to Kenya’s economy. But behind those billions of shillings are human beings.
Some are working long hours in unfamiliar countries, separated from their children and spouses. Some are struggling with loneliness, anxiety and depression. Others face abusive employers, discrimination, unpaid wages, overcrowded accommodation or the constant fear of losing their jobs.
Yet when people talk about migrant workers, mental health is rarely part of the conversation. Kenya has rightly focused in protecting migrant workers from exploitation, trafficking and physical abuse. But protection must also include something less visible: their psychological wellbeing. A worker does not have to be physically injured for migration to cause harm.
The loneliness behind the remittances
What many individuals don’t realise is that moving to a foreign country is not simply a change of workplace. It is a complete disruption of a person's social and cultural environment. For example, a Kenyan worker arriving in Germany, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman or another destination may suddenly find themselves without their familiar support network. In most cases, the language and the food are different.
Workplace policies and expectations may be different too. In addition, religious and social norms may be unfamiliar. In some cases, workers live and work in environments where they have very little contact with people from home.
Separation from family is another major problem. A mother working as a house help in the Gulf may miss years of her children's childhood. A father employed in the hospitality sector only relies on mobile phones to watch family celebrations. Moreover, a young person who goes abroad to escape Kenya’s unemployment may spend months or years away from home while their parents grow older.
Besides the family issues, there is often an additional burden of expectation to succeed because the societies in the home countries believe that someone working abroad must be making a lot of money. However, what they may not know is that migrant workers struggle to survive.
For instance, sometimes wages may be delayed, or much of the salary may disappear into recruitment debts and living expenses. Thus, inevitably, in many cases migrant workers carry all these burdens and suffer in silence.
The workplace can make matters worse
Mental health problems among migrant workers cannot simply be blamed on homesickness because their working conditions matter too. Working for long hours, inadequate rest, low pay, harassment, discrimination, isolation, unsafe workplaces and uncertainty about employment can all contribute to psychological distress.
For domestic workers, the situation can be particularly difficult because the workplace is also the home of the employer. A worker who may be experiencing difficulties may have nowhere to escape to get a respite.
For many Kenyans working in construction, hospitality and other sectors that involve physically demanding jobs, exhaustion can compound psychological stress, which further contributes to mental health issues.
The fear of speaking out against unruly employers for fear of losing their jobs means migrant workers may remain in that environment for a long time, which compounds their mental wellbeing further.
Restraining one's feelings for extended periods can lead to deterioration of mental faculties. Eventually, they may become unable to work effectively or return home in crisis.
Mental health should not be an afterthought
Much work is being done; however, the government needs to rethink what migrant-worker protection means. Mental-health support should begin before departure.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the State Department for Diaspora Affairs and licensed recruitment agencies should ensure that pre-departure orientation includes mental-health preparation.
Workers should be told honestly about the psychological challenges of migration: loneliness, culture shock, family separation, stress, workplace conflict and financial pressure. They should learn how to recognise warning signs of anxiety, depression and severe stress not only in themselves but also in fellow workers.
Most importantly, they should know where to seek help. Knowing what working abroad means should not be designed to frighten people away from migration, but be portrayed as the reality on the ground.
The writer is a lecturer and consultant at OXUS Management Consultants, Nairobi.
