Were you aware of Kuwait's marvellous health system?

According to an article in the Kuwait Times on Feb. 1...

Kuwait has lowest death rate: Al-Ajeel
KUWAIT: Dr Abdullah Mohammed Al-Ajeel, director of the medical statistical analysis department at the Ministry of Health, said yesterday that Kuwait has the lowest death rate worldwide. Al-Ajeel said that the world statistics proved that Kuwait has a death rate of 1.9 per cent for every 1,000 people during the period between 2000 and 2005. He added this was proved by several international publications, such as the World Resources Institute, World in Figures for 2005 and the Top 10 Of Everything for 2006.

He indicated that this low percentage is due to the high standard of medical services provided in Kuwait and the presence of a qualified medical staff as well as the high-tech medical devices.
Al-Ajeel said he believed that also the high medical awareness among the citizens and residents, thanks to the campaigns of the Health Ministry, is another reason for the low death rates.

According to the lowest death rates agenda published in the World in Figures, the UAE ranked second with 2.4 per cent for every 1,000 persons, followed by Bahrain with 2.4 per cent, then Oman with 3.3 per cent and Qatar and Saudi-Arabia in sixth place with 3.7 per cent. - Kuna

This is typical of the rubbish provided by official spokespersons and published in media in this part of the world. We have the lowest death rate in the world… so the Ministry of Health to justify its existence has to announce that it must be because the country has the most advanced medical services in the world... This rather contradicts with experience on the ground. If you live in Kuwait you will know that medical services aren’t as good as they’re cracked up to be – why else would the royals always go abroad for medical treatment, or pay for treatment for citizens abroad? In fact according to a world ranking on health system performance, in 1997 Kuwait only ranked 45th in the world.

Let’s surmise the real reasons for a low death rate, (asuming this is in fact true)... Could it be that non-citizens are shipped back to their countries of origin when their useful working lives are over? With a quick bit of analysis on the web you will find that Kuwait ranks second in the world for the proportion of the population aged between 15-64. However, Kuwait is ranked 192 out of 193 countries, ie. 2nd last, for the proportion of the population aged 65 years and over. Mystery solved - if you don't have many old people, then it's no surprise that there's a low death rate!

Some other really interesting stats from the same website:
Kuwait is 3rd in the world for CO2 emissions per capita, which is no surprise, but is in last place for the number of prisoners per capita… that’s quite surprising given all those recalcitrant maids, drivers, labourers, et al. I suspect there’s some fudging of the numbers by the Ministry of the Interior. On a positive note, in the same day, the Kuwait Times reported the following:

Small motorcade
KUWAIT: Informed sources revealed that HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad has asked that only two cars accompany him when he moves about the country, rather than a large security motorcade. Sources said troops from the Amiri Guard went to his Salwa residence to accompany him to Bayan Palace which surprised the Amir, as no order had been given to that effect.

Good to see that the new Amir is a bit more ‘down to earth’. I hear he’s also canned the hordes of Amiri guards outside the palace and the horn blast to announce his arrival and departure which, as a staff member who I hope doesn't mind me quoting, said “…I felt like I was in an English castle in the middle ages!”

Today's lesson: Don't smack your wife while driving

... wait 'till you get home! Just joking.

Back in action, after a wee sojourn from blogging. Almost left Kuwait altogether until my owner in a magnanimous gesture allowed my iqama to be transferred to my new employer!

Anyways, here's a pearl of wisdom offered by the Kuwait Times today...

Don't smack your wife while driving
JIZAN: A man died after he lost control of his car, Al-Watan daily reported. Angry with his wife and driving in typical fashion of Saudi Arabia - fast and with utter
disregard for traffic laws - the man smacked his woman in the face. In
retaliation, the wife grabbed the steering wheel, causing the husband to lose
control of the vehicle. Because he was driving like an angry Saudi, the car was
careening down the road at an unsafe speed. As a result of expressing anger by
driving really fast, the car flipped several times. The wife is recuperating in
the hospital; the husband is underground.

I have no further comment.

Thou shalt observe the law, no matter how crazy it is

In Kuwait during Ramadan it is a criminal offence to eat or drink in public during the daylight hours. Every year scapegoats are found as per today's Arab Times...

Man violates law: Ahmadi patrol officers, in pursuing a car with the aim of
issuing its driver with a traffic violation ticket, were surprised to find
sweetmeats and cold drinks beside the car’s Asian driver. The man also appeared
to have also been smoking while driving and was, therefore, referred to Abu
Khalifa Police Station where he was charged with violating the law which bans
eating, drinking or smoking in public places during the daytime hours of
Ramadan, say security sources. In a continuing scenario of persons violating the
mentioned law, two Kuwaiti youth, who were caught eating in a public place at
10.00 am by personnel from the Capital patrols were referred to the Capital
police station, add the sources.

... just as well that I have an office door I can close.

Censorship

Here’s an example to show what a fine upright country we’re living in.

The kids’ reading books at school all have to be submitted to the Ministry of Education before they are approved for use in school. Here’s an example of what a Year 4 reading book looks like:

"That’s the miller” said Marge. See he’s holding a jar of *** in his hand. We call it **** nowadays. The miller made *** with the malt from his mill. You can see that he loved his ***. But he did not love his wife."

The **** words were blacked out with marker pen.

Kuwait - fighting corruption, terrorism and human rights violations

I've just discovered a new blog which expresses some of the same sentiments on this blog. As Ben says:

Kuwait, a culture of face, is more concerned about its reputation than anything
else. As a result, issues such as corruption, terrorism and human rights
violations are often denied or simply ignored. In most cases, the victims are
punished. Despite the fact most people are too afraid to denounce them, some
Kuwaiti and expat writers are exposing the violations committed against helpless
victims... some times at the risk of being accused of destroying Kuwait’s
reputation or even being arrested.

There's a particularly good article about the random killing of Canadian Luc Ethier and the wounding of his Filipina wife Mary Jean Bitos back in 2001, and the cover-up by the Kuwaiti authorities since. Keep up the good work Ben - the more publicity, the better.

Morals police on the job

In today's Arab Times we get the following article with accompanying photo...

13 women held for dressing indecently

Hawally securitymen arrested 13 Asian women, all below 25-years of age, at
a billiards hall in Salmiya for being 'indecently dressed', say sources.
Investigations show most of the women already have cases registered against them
by their sponsors. Some of these individuals were found to be on expired visas.
Some adolescent boys were also arrested and during interrogation confessed to
frequenting the billiards hall late at night to "fool around with the girls in
exchange for money", confirm sources. All the arrested women will be referred to
the hospital where they will undergo medical examinations to confirm whether or
not they are free from infectious diseases explained the source in
conclusion.

How indecent! ...their arms are showing, no head coverings, and one of them looks distinctly masculine ...probably the undercover officer posing with his bevy of beauties.

And while on the subject of Dubai...

Apparantly women in Dubai are now able to divorce their husbands in Sharia courts. But, did you know...

... One new rule mandates that the mentally ill, lepers and the impotent cannot get married. (my emphasis)

So how do they test whether someone is impotent or not before they can be married?! Do Sharia court judges do a test on budding fiances? Do they take them to one of the hotels renowned for women of the night? And why on earth have the stupid rule in the first place?

I bet there's a few Emirati wives who wish their husbands were impotent!

Does the Road to the Future End at Dubai?

I came across an interesting article on Dubai when browsing blogs. Here are a few gems...

Although often compared to Las Vegas, Orlando, Hong Kong or Singapore, the sheikhdom is more like their collective summation: a pastiche of the big, the bad, and the ugly. It is not just a hybrid but a chimera: the offspring of the lascivious coupling of the cyclopean fantasies of Barnum, Eiffel, Disney, Spielberg, Jerde, Wynn, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill...

... Under his leadership (Maktoum's), the coastal desert has become a huge circuit board into which the elite of transnational engineering firms and retail developers are invited to plug in high-tech clusters, entertainment zones, artificial islands, "cities within cities" -- whatever is the latest fad in urban capitalism. The same phantasmagoric but generic Lego blocks, of course, can be found in dozens of aspiring cities these days, but Sheik Mo has a distinctive and inviolable criterion: Everything must be "world class," by which he means number one in The Guinness Book of Records. Thus Dubai is building the world's largest theme park, the biggest mall, the highest building, and the first sunken hotel among other firsts.

Sheikh Mo's architectural megalomania, although reminiscent of Albert Speer and his patron, is not irrational. Having "learned from Las Vegas," he understands that if Dubai wants to become the luxury-consumer paradise of the Middle East and South Asia (its officially defined "home market" of 1.6 billion), it must ceaselessly strive for excess.

From this standpoint, the city's monstrous caricature of futurism is simply shrewd marketing. Its owners love it when designers and urbanists anoint it as the cutting edge. Architect George Katodrytis wrote: "Dubai may be considered the emerging prototype for the 21st century: prosthetic and nomadic oases presented as isolated cities that extend out over the land and sea."

A good read, but unfortunately the author doesn't let facts get in the way of a good story. He goes a bit over the top when he talks about 'broad tolerance of booze, recreational drugs, halter tops, and other foreign vices formally proscribed by Islamic law' or 'unrestricted freehold ownership to foreigners' - as far as I'm aware you have to be a non-Muslim to then be able to obtain a licence to buy booze, for example, and there is no unrestricted freehold ownership for foreigners... it is only leasehold and legal property rights are still very murky.

Justice for women in Islam?

How many men in Kuwait have been convicted for raping a housemaid? And yet, there are hundreds, thousands even, of maids over the years that have been raped or abused, and yet are punished by the system while nothing happens to the perpetrator. How many sponsors are stopped from sponsoring another housemaid once it is known that they have raped, abused, and/or not paid their previous housemaid?

Whilst it's easy to be critical of the justice system, or lack of it, in Kuwait and other Gulf countries, it's not only here that there is a problem. I came across the following article in The Times written by the renowned Salman Rushdie which highlights the strict Islamic code that condemns women in Pakistan and India, and have 'cut and paste' it in full...

Where is the honour in this vile code that condemns women to die in shame?

Salman Rushdie
IN HONOUR-AND-SHAME cultures such as those
of India and Pakistan, male honour resides in the sexual probity of women, and
the “shaming” of women dishonours all men. So it is that five men of Pakistan’s
powerful Mastoi tribe were disgracefully acquitted of raping a villager named
Mukhtar Mai three years ago. Theirs was an “honour rape”, intended to punish a
relative of Ms Mukhtar for having been seen with a Mastoi woman. The acquittals
have now been suspended by the Pakistan Supreme Court, and there is finally a
chance that this courageous woman may gain some measure of redress for her
violation. Pakistan, however, has little to be proud of. The Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan says that there were 320 reported rapes in the first nine
months of last year, and 350reported gang rapes in the same period. The number
of unreported rapes is believed to be much larger. The victim pressed charges in
only one third of the reported cases, and a mere39 arrests were made. The use of
rape in tribal disputes has become, one might say, normal. And the belief that a
raped woman’s best recourse is to kill herself remains widespread and deeply
ingrained. For every Mukhtar Mai there are dozens of such suicides. Nor is
courage any guarantee of getting justice, as the case of Shazia Khalid shows. Dr
Khalid was raped last year in the province of Baluchistan by security personnel
at the hospital where she worked. A Pakistani tribunal failed to convict anyone
of the crime. Dr Khalid says that she was subsequently “threatened so many
times” that she was forced to flee Pakistan. “I was hounded out,” she says,
expressing dissatisfaction that the Government neither brought her attackers to
justice nor protected her from the threats that followed. That is the same
Government, led by President Musharraf, that confiscated Mukhtar Mai’s passport
because it feared that she would go abroad and say things that would bring
Pakistan into disrepute; and it is the same Government that has allied itself
with the West in the war on terrorism, but seems quite prepared to allow a war
of sexual terror to be waged against its female citizens. Now comes even worse
news. Whatever Pakistan can do, India, it seems, can trump. The so-called Imrana
case, in which a Muslim woman from a village in northern India says that she was
raped by her father-in-law, has brought forth a ruling from the powerful
Islamist seminary Darul-Uloom ordering her to leave her husband because as a
result of the rape she has become haram (unclean) for him. “It does not matter,”
a cleric has stated, “if it was consensual or forced.” Darul-Uloom, in the
village of Deoband90 miles north of Delhi, is the birthplace of the
ultra-conservative Deobandi cult, in whose madrassas the Taleban were trained.
It teaches the most fundamentalist, narrow, puritan, rigid, oppressive version
of Islam that exists anywhere in the world today. In one fatwa it suggested that
Jews were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Not only the Taleban but also the
assassins of The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl were followers of
Deobandi teachings. Darul-Uloom’s rigid interpretations of Sharia law are
notorious, and immensely influential — so much so that the victim, Imrana, a
woman under unimaginable pressure, has said she will abide by the seminary’s
decision in spite of the widespread outcry in India against it. An innocent
woman, she will leave her husband because of his father’s crime. Why does a mere
seminary have the power to issue such judgments? The answer lies in the strange
anomaly that is the Muslim personal law system — a parallel legal system for
Indian Muslims, which leaves women such as Imrana at the mercy of the mullahs.
Such is the historical confusion on this vexed subject that anyone who suggests
that a democratic country should have a single, unified legal system is accused
of being anti- Muslim and in favour of the hard-line Hindu nationalists. In the
1980s a divorced woman named Shah Bano was granted “maintenance money” by the
Indian Supreme Court. But there is no alimony under Islamic law, so orthodox
Indian Islamists such as those at Darul-Uloom protested that this ruling
infringed the Muslim Personal Law, and they founded the All-India Muslim Law
Board to mount protests. The Government caved in, passing a Bill denying alimony
to divorced Muslim women. Ever since Shah Bano, Indian politicians have not
dared to challenge the power of Islamist clerical grandees. In the Imrana case,
the All-India Muslim Law Board has unsurprisingly backed the Darul-Uloom
decision, though many other Muslim and non-Muslim organisations and individuals
have denounced it. Shockingly, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam
Singh Yadav, has also backed the Darul-Uloom fatwa. “The decision of the Muslim
religious leaders in the Imrana case must have been taken after a lot of
thought,” he told reporters in Lucknow. “The religious leaders are all very
learned and they understand the Muslim community and its sentiments.” This is a
craven statement. The “culture” of rape that exists in India and Pakistan arises
from profound social anomalies, its origins lying in the unchanging harshness of
a moral code based on the concepts of honour and shame. Thanks to that code’s
ruthlessness, raped women will go on hanging themselves in the woods and walking
into rivers to drown themselves. It will take generations to change that.
Meanwhile, the law must do what it can. In Pakistan, the Supreme Court has taken
one small but significant step in the matter of Mukhtar Mai; now it is for the
police and politicians to start pursuing rapists instead of hounding their
victims. As for India, at the risk of being called a communalist, I must agree
that any country that claims to be a modern, secular democracy must secularise
and unify its legal system, and take power over women’s lives away, once and for
all, from medievalist institutions such as Darul-Uloom.

The Last Information Minister

Some good news for Kuwait... I missed this one when I was out of the country. Anas Al-Rasheed is the new Kuwaiti Information Minister, and his stated goal in his new position is to CLOSE the Ministry of (Dis)Information!

And thou shalt not have thy hair cut in the same vicinity as the opposite sex

Reading the local newspapers always provides some light entertainment for foreigners. Further, it actually provides an insight into the cultural norms and values. I know I can't get a female hairdresser to cut my hair in this place, but I'd never even thought about, yet again realised, that it's illegal to have a hairdressing salon where both members of the same sex can get their hair cut. This little titbit from a recent Arab Times article...

... the Labour Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour
recently spotted serious violations said to have been committed by hairdressing
salons, reports Al-Qabas daily. In one incident inspectors from the department
raided a men's salon and discovered a special room had been prepared to receive
women customers. The salon has since been closed for violating the law.
Inspectors have also closed two women's salons for entertaining men...

Fijians the latest to be exploited

Looks like Fijians are the latest nationality to be exploited by a Kuwaiti employer. In yesterday's Arab Times...

Over 80 Fijian truckers complain about not-payment of salaries

KUWAIT CITY: Over 80 stranded Fijian truckers employed with a well-known
local logistics company and plying on the Kuwait-Iraq route complained Monday
about non-payment of their salaries for three months. Slamming the heavy-handed
attitude of the company, the truckers alleged that the company was flouting the
work contract signed in Fiji. ‘The company promised us that it would increase
our salaries after the completion of the probation period but its almost seven
months now and the company has neither hiked our wages nor it has provided us
work visas as promised,’ they lamented. According to the truckers, more than 400
Fijians were signed up as truckers by the local company and have been plying to
Iraq on regular basis. Taking umbrage at the low risk allowance to Iraq, a
trucker told the Arab Times that the company was providing the truckers a mere
KD 50 as risk allowance.‘

We have been plying in some of the most dangerous areas in Iraq including
Fallujah, Mosul and Baghdad but the company does not appreciate our efforts. All
of us feel very vulnerable while traveling to Iraq but we are helpless.’ ‘Some
of us tried to resolve the problem with the company in a congenial manner but to
no avail. The management threatens workers with deportation if they approach
them to seek their dues.’ Added a trucker ‘All of us have families back home.
Their day-to-day activities have been disrupted owing to non-payment of our
salaries. How are we supposed to feed our families,’ he demanded to know.

The truckers, who earn monthly salary of KD 175, said as per the new
contract the truckers were to be paid over KD 1,000 per month and that the
company has been turning a blind eye to their repeated requests. ‘All we are
demanding is good working conditions and our salary on time.’The truckers also
alleged that some of their colleagues were incapacitated and were in urgent need
of medical care. ‘Some 80 Fijians were recently either terminated or forced to
resign by the company. While some got their dues, others were repatriated
without paying their indemnity.’ Says a trucker ‘we are being treated like
slaves by the company. We are not provided rations by the company while
traveling to Iraq. All truckers have to take care of their own supplies. The
company does not provide us accommodation in Iraq and as a result we have to
sleep in our trucks. The truck is like our living room.’ (contd.)

Hmmm... a promised increase in salary from KD 175 to KD 1,000 per month. There are suckers born every minute.

Smelly in Salwa

I noticed in yesterdays Arab Times that an Egptian worker was killed when he was investigating drains in Salwa. Apparantly he was down a manhole and took off his mask to talk to a colleague and was overcome by toxic fumes!! This isn't the first time this has happened. I recall a similar incident happened a year ago, in Jahra I think.

How come there's toxic fumes in drains? What kind of toxic fumes are we dealing with here? What is the source? How is the low level of toxicity that we're all receiving on a daily basis affecting our bodies? Why isn't there more of an outcry about the environmental situation in Kuwait? Does anyone in this country care? Am I a voice in the wilderness?

Lesson #1: How to build a culture reliant on state handouts

What a farce whereby all Kuwaitis have their power and water bills reduced by KD 2,000. What kind of message does that give to honest bill payers? What about non-Kuwaitis?

That latest Governmental decision is on top of the KD 200 cash handout to all Kuwaitis and the salary increases to all public sector employees. Cost of these 3 decisions in total - a cool KD 460 million (over $1.5 billion), according to today’s Arab Times ‘Al-Shall report’. The rational for these payouts: appease the Kuwaiti politicians that would have otherwise blocked other ‘reforms’ like allowing women to vote…

Almost 2 years now in Kuwait and still no telephone line, because the Ministry haven’t built the infrastructure…

Why do the workers protest?

Today's Arab Times...

Workers protest as govt boots out 'cleaning' firm; Salaries unpaid for several months

KUWAIT CITY: In an extraordinary situation in Kuwait, about 3,000 cleaning
company workers of an unidentified company demonstrated and refused to hand over
the keys and other items in their possession to the workers of the new
contracting company when their company's contract with the Al-Razi, Maternity,
Chest and Allergy Diseases hospitals was terminated. A reliable source told the
Arab Times the company had violated one of the terms and conditions of the
contract by not paying the workers for several months and forcing them to
demonstrate and refuse to work thus disrupting the cleaning services at several
hospitals. When the workers refused to leave the premises at these hospitals, a
police force led by Director of the Security Directorate of the Capital
Governorate Brigadier Dr Mustafa Al-Zuaabi rushed to the place and threatened to
take action if the workers don't abide by the laws of the country. It has also
been reported after the arrest of one of the workers believed to be the man
leading the demonstration, the disheartened workers quietly left the place.
Those present during the negotiations were the acting Undersecretary of the
Ministry of Health Dr Ali Al-Seif, Undersecretary of the Legal Affairs
Department Dr Abdulkareem Jaafar, Director of the Legal Affairs Department
Mahmoud Abdulhadi, Director of the Chest Diseases Hospital Dr Fahd Al-Khalifah
and Director of the Maternity Hospital Dr. Mansour Sarkhouh. Most cleaning
workers get very low salaries - around KD 20 - but in the recent past the number
of protests by them have increased as they say even this meagre amount is not
paid to them for months.

That’s right boot out the workers who complain because they haven’t been paid – so not only are they not paid, they don’t have a job any more and they’re deported. And a new lot of workers are hired and the cycle starts again. The winner out of this merry-round - the Kuwait company owners. Lose one contract, that's OK... very profitable while it lasted, as very little in outgoings... and tomorrow I'll have another contract somewhere else.

And why exactly are the company names never released? Powerful families that can pay off the press me thinks. Wouldn’t want the reputation tarnished with bad publicity after all would we. Might not go down too well in the diwaniya.

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...

GCC countries to issue own 'rights' reports

What a brain fart reported in this morning's Gulf Daily News...

Gulf to issue rights reports

COUNTRIES in the GCC may start to issue their own annual reports on terrorism, human rights and human resources to offset those compiled by international organisations. GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al Attiyah proposed the move at the seventh GCC consultative meeting on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He claimed there is a need to counter reports on the GCC by
international organisations because they "may be inaccurate".
"My proposal was well received by the leadership of GCC states at the meeting," he said following yesterday's Press conference at the Foreign Ministry, in Manama.

A new department is now expected to be formed at the GCC General Secretariat specifically to issue reports, which would be compiled in co-operation with relevant government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in member states...

Indepedent observers keep writing bad things about GCC countries, so let's do something about it... Hmmm, I know, let's write our own reports about how glorious things are. Brilliant plan! That should encourage gullible investors & create a few more jobs.

As if the media isn't controlled enough already. Maybe the GCC will be seeking to counter this type of stuff from the International Crisis Group.