Government initiates talks to secure release of Uganda woman charged with murder in Syria

The Government of Uganda has initiated diplomatic efforts to secure the release and possible repatriation of a Ugandan woman, Vicky Ajok, who is facing murder charges in Syria.

Ajok, according to reports, could face the maximum sentence of death, if convicted for the alleged murder of employer  and renowned Syrian actress Huda Shaarawi.

The Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Hon. Esther Davinia Anyakun, confirmed that the government is actively following up on the matter.

Addressing the press this morning about the launch of the Safe Labour Migration Campaign, themed “Travel Safe. Stay Safe,” Minister Anyakun said she personally undertook to investigate the matter after videos of Ajok on social media and in the local and international press were sent to her.

The minister said she formally engaged Uganda’s Embassy in Cairo and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help trace Ajok’s whereabouts and establish contact with Syrian authorities.

“Syria is not among the countries with which Uganda has bilateral agreements, and we also do not have a Syrian embassy here,” Anyakun said.

“But we are doing everything we can to see how that girl can be rescued. We need to talk to the government of Syria to have this girl come back home.”

The minister said coordination is being handled through the Cairo Embassy, which oversees Uganda’s interests in that region.

She added that most Ugandans who travel to Syria do so under risky and unclear circumstances, given that the country remains a war zone.

“Most of the girls who have gone to Syria are more than warriors because this is a war zone. There is fighting and you want to stick your head in a war zone?”

Ajok, a Ugandan housemaid, was employed at the Damascus home of veteran actress Huda Shaarawi, who was found dead inside her residence on Thursday last week. 

Syrian authorities say Ajok confessed to killing the 87-year-old actress following interrogation. 

According to the Damascus Internal Security Directorate, Shaarawi suffered a violent assault with a blunt object in the early morning hours, leading to severe bleeding and her death. Ajok allegedly fled the scene but was later arrested.

However, Minister Anyakun pointed to conflicting reports surrounding the incident. 

She noted that some accounts suggest that children in the household may have been responsible for the murder, with blame later shifted to the maid. 

“There are so many conflicting stories, some say children in the house are the ones that murdered the victim and pinned it on the maid”

Shaarawi, one of Syria’s most revered actresses, enjoyed an illustrious career spanning more than eight decades and was widely mourned across the Arab world following her death.

In the same briefing, Anyakun also raised concern over reports of Ugandans deceptively lured to Russia by unlicensed companies, only to end up fighting as mercenaries on the Russia-Ukraine war front. 

She warned jobseekers to verify recruitment companies with the ministry, noting that many victims remain unreachable due to lack of contact details.

The government says it will continue diplomatic engagements to protect Ugandans abroad and address rising cases of human trafficking and unsafe labor migration.