How dare these slaves be treated with dignity!

Another good article in the Kuwait Times yesterday by Jamie Etheridge is reproduced in full. It's great that this stuff is able to be published in the media in Kuwait! It makes me optimistic that things can change for the better, but at the same time amazes me that such dinosaurs are elected as MPs! And, it's not often that the Ministry of Interior can be praised for using some common sense...

A setback for hope: MPs and labour laws

By Jamie Etheridge
KUWAIT: This week the Ministry of the Interior rejected a proposal by MPs
to place an additional restriction on expat labour in Kuwait. The proposal
recommended that any expatriate wishing to travel outside the country must first
obtain from his/her sponsor a 'certificate of non-objection.' Luckily the
Ministry refused the request on the grounds that it 1.) contravened the
government's policy of facilitating freedom of travel for non-criminals; 2.)
because there are plenty of systems in place already to catch criminals who try
to abscond; 3) most employers and sponsors already hold the passports of their
expat staff, even though this is against the law and 4.) it would be extremely
difficult to apply because foreigners who needed to leave on an emergency may
not be able to reach sponsors on vacation or unavailable.

We are thankful for the Ministry's detailed logic and decision to allow
foreign labour at least the dignity of freedom of travel. We can't help but
wonder which MPs thought placing such a harsh and burdensome restriction on more
than 1.2 million expatriates living and working in Kuwait was a good idea.
Imagine the nightmare of trying to get a 'certificate of non-objection' from a
sponsor who has physically abused you or failed to pay you or maybe just traded
you off to another sponsor. Imagine even trying to get a 'non-objection
certificate' from a great and generous sponsor who travels - like many Kuwaitis
- out of the country on a regular basis. What were these MPs thinking? What
could possibly prompt them to want to leash like dogs 1.2 million people to
their sponsors when the US State Department is openly and publicly ridiculing
Kuwait for its failure to protect to victims of 'human trafficking' and failure
to prosecute human traffickers.

Already the International Labour Organisation has recommended that Kuwait
abandon the trouble-laden sponsorship system and instead allow only the state to
act as an official sponsor for all imported labour. Many expatriates and labour
activists see this as the most reasonable solution, reducing the possibility for
abuses by sponsors and reducing the financial burden and risks sponsors take
when they hire and import expat labour.

The debate about human trafficking and troubled labour laws, however,
doesn't seem to be penetrating the national conscious - or rather, the National
Assembly's conscious. MPs who still think of expat labour as just a step above
slaves clearly aren't ready to enter a discussion about how to protect Asian
maids from their employers or how to stop child camel jockey trafficking in the
region.

Is the gap between Arabic and English discourse in Kuwait so wide that
Members of Parliament seriously have heard nothing about how expat labourers
here are fed up with being abused and exploited and how Kuwait is being
spotlighted for that exploitation? Or maybe they had just been working so hard
on the proposal to prevent expats from leaving the country without their
sponsors' permission that they haven't had time to read a newspaper.

Modern day slavery in Kuwait

Last week's Kuwait Times had the following interesting article...

US State Department talks about modern day slavery in Kuwait

By Jamie Etheridge

KUWAIT: The US Embassy in Kuwait arranged yesterday a videoconference
discussion with Ambassador James Miller, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of
State and Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Ambassador Miller spoke in-depth about trafficking in persons in Kuwait and the
US State Department's position on enforcement and protection for trafficking
victims. "Trafficking in persons "is a major human rights issue in the 21st
century" Miller argues, labelling it "modern day slavery."
In early June, the United States lowered the ranking for Kuwait - along
with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - to the third tier of
countries failing to protect victims of trafficking and prosecute traffickers.
Yesterday, Kuwait's Speaker of the House said in an interview with BBC that the
US reports about human rights on Kuwait should not be dealt with as
"undisputable or some form of a permit that limits our authority." Throwing a
stone at America's most prominent glass house, Khorafi noted that Washington has
violated human rights by "holding prisoners without trial or legal procedure" at
the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "In Kuwait, our best is always
done to resolve any negativity that takes place (at human rights level),"
Al-Khorafi said. Ambassador Miller acknowledged that slavery remains "a
scourge that extends throughout the world," including the United States. While
he didn't mention the accusations of human rights abuses levelled at the United
States over the Gitmo detentions, he did say that in America, hundreds of women
are trafficked into the country as sex slaves.
Speaking about Kuwait, Miller listed three types of trafficked persons:
domestic servants and housemaids, construction workers and child camel jockeys.
Miller argues that tools to combat slavery include public awareness through
education and media campaigns, labour laws and enforcement of laws to protect
victims and prosecute violators.When asked why Washington had chosen now to
lower Kuwait's rating to the third tier - where it could face sanctions from the
US government if no substantive progress has been made by September - Miller
said that "We don't believe the government of Kuwait is making significant
efforts to combat slavery. Deeds have yet to match words." For the Trafficking
in Humans report, the US State Department gathers information from a variety of
sources including US Embassies abroad, other governments and embassies, press
and media reports, academic papers and staff visits, says Miller. "We are hoping
that in the next several months Kuwait will articulate an approach to change
these laws to give some protection to those who find themselves in slave like
conditions," says Miller.
When challenged on why the US seems to love to rank and rate other
countries on human rights issues and terrorism, Miller admitted that the US
would rank at the "top of tier two" - one rank above Kuwait - when it comes to
trafficking in humans. The US government is now looking for "appreciable
programmes" that demonstrate a Kuwaiti government will to address the problem.
According to unofficial estimates, there are more than 300,000 Asian maids in
Kuwait - about one for every two Kuwaitis. Human Rights Watch, a
non-governmental organisation which monitors human rights abuses around the
globe - argues that Asian maids in Kuwait are routinely subject to physical
abuse, unlawful confinement, passport confiscation, withholding of wages, sexual
abuse, rape and assault.
Ambassador Miller says the US government hopes that by raising awareness,
the Kuwaiti government will focus greater efforts on providing education to
would-be sponsors and potential recruits, shelters for those who have been
abused, public awareness campaigns and improved labour laws...

The problem, which the USA quite rightly is highlighting, is that the Kuwaiti government is not doing anything to resolve the slavery issue. Sure, the USA is no angel in this matter and has its own people trafficking problems.

As I’ve commented in this blog previously, the Kuwaiti Labour Laws have still not been amended. And being a cynic, even if the laws are changed, everyone knows in Kuwait that the rule of law is applied differently depending on your nationality thanks to institutionalised racism, or is amenable to “wasta” (the use of relationships or a network for favours). The judicial system clearly doesn’t work in Kuwait as in other Gulf states. Even in Bahrain which is a little more progressive in these matters, not one national citizen has been prosecuted for abuse or rape of a housemaid.

Then you have the issue of the home countries of those that are exploited – the maids, labourers, prostitutes, et al - who themselves are quite happy to sweep things under the carpet, and not make too big a deal about the exploitation. As long as you have third world embassies whose main function is to pick up the pieces of individuals and arrange for them to get home, rather than confront the problem head on and withdraw their nationals from the market altogether (as some countries have done / are threatening to do), then the problem will continue. These supplier countries can do something, but often won’t as their economies do very well thank you from expat remittances. Then there’s the comfortable life a diplomatic post entails (particularly coming from a third world country)… why rock the boat (or ‘gravy train’ to use another metaphor)! And these countries aren’t immune to the greasing of palms… all unsubstantiated uncorroborated thinking on my part of course.

The USA State Department didn’t mention the fourth group of trafficked persons in Kuwait – prostitutes – so I will. If you read the constant stories in newspapers about prostitution dens being broken up by police in the country, you’ll get an inkling of how this is another huge area for exploitation (as it is everywhere in the world). Sadly, it appears that a number of the prostitutes are runaway maids hoping to earn a few bucks. Talk about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire!

Might we see reform of Kuwait's Labour Laws sometime soon?

From yesterdays Arab Times:

Changes eyed to expat labour law

KUWAIT CITY (AFP): Kuwait said Sunday it may change labour laws that have
come under fire for creating unfair conditions for Kuwait's 1.8 million foreign
workers. The US Department of State in its annual Trafficking in Persons
Report released Friday criticised Kuwait and three other Gulf states for not
doing enough to halt human trafficking and child labour." Yes, the labour
market has many problems, but we are actively working to safeguard the integrity
of foreign workers by issuing more regulations," said Adnan Al-Omar, a labour
ministry official.
Currently, foreigners working in Kuwait's private sector must have a
"sponsor," a regulation which restricts their movement and puts them at the
mercy of their employers. Omar said Kuwait has been cooperating with the
International Labour Organization for the past four years, and is considering
ILO suggestions for changing the sponsor requirement...

That’s right… 4 years cooperating, ie. talking, talking, talking... but not actually getting around to making any changes to the Labour Laws. According to another newspaper article, the Labour Laws haven’t been amended in 40 years! So no wonder the US State Department is getting on the case. Let's see some action! Meanwhile, don't be surprised if there are more violent demonstrations from abused workers.

This is another example of the length of time any reform or change takes in this part of the world.

Freedom to discuss Human Rights in Bahrain?

And following up from yesterday's post - what to do with home-grown human rights NGOs. Shut them down of course. This from today's Gulf Daily News.

If you clamp down on one society, in this case the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), it will only pop up again in another guise...