But in the last decade, reports of abuse prompted the government to ban recruitment agencies from sending its citizens to work as domestic staff overseas. Kenya stopped the export of its domestic labour force to the Middle Eastern countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon notorious for the Kafala system.
In 2014, licences of over 900 recruiting firms were revoked and a task force was set up to review the management of foreign employment. The task force recommended that departing Kenyan migrant workers be subjected to a mandatory pre-departure training offered by an inter-ministerial vetting committee and contracts verification before leaving the country. The aim is to protect domestic and low skilled cadres from human rights abuse or job fraud.