Sierra Leone’s Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security, Umaru Napoleon Koroma, has held a high-level meeting with labour migration agencies, setting new performance expectations focused on legal compliance, safe migration practices and national security.
The meeting, held on Monday, September 14, 2026, brought together representatives of labour recruitment agencies as the Ministry moves to strengthen oversight of recruitment and overseas employment activities.
Addressing the agency representatives, Minister Koroma reiterated that the Guinea transit route remains temporarily frozen as the Ministry investigates reports of Sierra Leonean jobseekers allegedly being transported across the border into Guinea and subsequently abandoned at airports.
The development follows the Minister’s recent diplomatic visit to Conakry alongside Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, where Sierra Leonean officials engaged Guinean authorities on concerns surrounding alleged human trafficking and unregulated recruitment activities along the two countries’ shared border.
Under new ministerial directives, the government is set to conduct a comprehensive review of labour recruitment agencies and their operating licences.
Agencies with valid licences have been directed to submit updated documentation detailing their recruitment, processing and overseas placement activities for verification and compliance assessment.
During the meeting, industry representatives congratulated Minister Koroma on his recent appointment to Cabinet and pledged to cooperate with the Ministry in implementing the new directives.
The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the regulation of labour migration and said further measures would be introduced as the comprehensive review progresses.