DUBAI: Kuwait’s Parliament on Wednesday began an emergency session to discuss problems of expatriate workers following recent incidents of large-scale unrest and demands for change by a leading human rights organisation.
The Parliament is discussing in detail the existing sponsorship system which is central to the recruitment of foreign workers. In most cases in the Gulf, recruitment of expatriates is possible only through a local national who decides to employ foreign workers.
“We are considering alternatives for the sponsor system to meet international labour standards,” Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Bader al-Duwaila told Parliament.
On the eve of the session, Parliament’s human rights committee sought major changes in the sponsorship law. The committee’s report concluded that low pay, delayed payment or non-payment of salaries, deprivation of weekend rest and annual leave were some of main problems that blue collar workers were facing. According to Kuwait’s English language daily Arab Times, the committee also focussed on the practice of employers forcing workers to sign documents which claimed that all their financial dues had been cleared.
Citing poor working conditions, thousands of Bangladeshi workers launched violent protests in July, resulting in large-scale arrests. Around a thousand were arrested and deported. However, soon after the incident, the government decided to raise the minimum monthly wage for cleaners to 40 Kuwaiti Dinars (Rs.6,600) and KD 70 (Rs.11,484) for security guards.
Parliament is also expected to discuss the recommendations of the research department attached to Kuwait’s National Assembly. The department has advocated establishment of a statuary body that would look at all labour issues in an integrated manner. It said that the new body should make an assessment of Kuwait’s actual labour needs. It should then pursue laws regulating the foreign labour market, including protection of the rights of workers and their employers.
Besides this, it should chart out new rules on penalties that companies hiring foreign workers beyond their requirements were required to pay. Presentation of regular reports to the executive and the legislature on the conditions of foreign workers, along with recommendations for changes should also be part of its charter of duties.