Domestic Workers in Kuwait Face Horrible Injustices

Elizabeth Bainbridge

10-6-10

7:51 pm

The Human Rights Watch is in a frenzy about the domestic workers’ status in Kuwait. Due to flaws in the sponsorship system, migrant domestic workers who try to flee from abusive employers can be charged with “absconding” and deported from the country. These workers have often had paychecks withheld, been sexually or physically abused, or been overworked and starved. Still, by law they are not permitted to search for another job unless their current employer consents. While filing complaints is technically a possibility for domestic workers, it is so unrealistic that most don’t even try. The wait at an embassy shelter can last months, and many cannot afford to go without income for that length of time. And since labor laws don’t apply to domestic workers they often have trouble winning legal battles. Another factor that inhibits the process is that employers routinely steal and hide their employees’ passports, impeding their ability to leave the country at all. The sponsorship system is scheduled to be replaced with “a government-administered recruitment authority” in February of 2011. The system obviously needs reforming, but there are no guarantees that the situation will improve for migrant domestic workers. These people are in need of laws that will allow them to leave abusive employers, and search for other jobs without their current employer’s permission. The Human Rights Watch also believes that these workers should be given shelter and protection by the government rather than deportation.

The purpose of this article is to alert people to the awful human rights violation that domestic workers in Kuwait are facing. By thoroughly describing the injustices that are occurring, and providing some specific examples, I believe this article accomplishes its goal. The article is emotional and moving, but also logical and informational. Once again, I’m so shocked that things like this are really happening. The government obviously knows about it, but has made no concrete promises to intervene. I agree with the Human Rights Watch that workers shouldn’t have to go through such a horrible process, when they’ve already experienced so much injustice, and have no guarantees or protection. I hope that the new system they are implementing next year will resolve these horrible situations for domestic workers.

http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/10/kuwait-for-abused-domestic-workers.html