On The Go
On The Go | The Dark Side of Labor Externalization is a documentary that is seeking to reemphasize the dangerous conditions of Ugandan workers in the Gulf. Much has been said about the improvement of the working conditions, mistreatment, and risks but the cases of maltreatment that are sometimes fatal have only increased. The documentary captures real-life experiences, those that have returned in bad shape, and an unfortunate fatal case.
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Kajumba Mourine BarbaraKey Cast
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Serwanjja SolomonDirector
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Kajumba Mourine BarbaraWriter
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Nwali RahimProducer
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Project Type:Documentary, Feature
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Runtime:48 minutes 59 seconds
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Completion Date:February 17, 2023
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Country of Origin:Uganda
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Country of Filming:Uganda
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Solomon Serwanjja is the Executive Director of the African Institute for Investigative Journalism (AIIJ). He is also a celebrated broadcast investigative journalist with 12 years of experience. Mr. Serwanjja has worked in several newsroom including NBS, NTV, KTN, UBC as an investigative Journalist reporting ground breaking investigations that have contributed to public discourse and social change. He is the winner of the 2019 BBC Komlar Dumor award, a prestigious award given to an outstanding journalist on the African continent.
So, just between January to August 2022, about 64 thousand young people left Uganda to go to work in the UAE, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. This is quite a big number because Uganda is losing its labor force: young people who would otherwise have invested their energies here going away but, beyond that what happens when they go to the UAE?
So, when we came up with this idea, we wanted to really get under the belly and get personal with people who have been in the UAE. What their experiences have been? And some of them have come back home, others are still there. The challenges they faced. Were they helped by the state? And so, this story goes beyond these personal experiences to examine policy, legal, and human rights issues. Does the government care about these young people who go to the UAE or is it only concentrating on the remittances that come from there? And I think that, as the executive producer of this film, I would love this film to restart conversations around human rights, around you know, labor externalization in this country so that maybe, just maybe, young people would rethink their decision to sell everything they have thinking that they have green pastures outside of this country, especially in the Middle-East.