KUWAIT CRACKS DOWN ON LABOR DOCUMENT FORGERS

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001013

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

FOR NEA/ARP, INL/HSTC, AND G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB KU TIP
SUBJECT: KUWAIT CRACKS DOWN ON LABOR DOCUMENT FORGERS


1. (SBU) Dr. Salih Al-Shaykh, Acting Assistant
Undersecretary for Labor Affairs at the Ministry of Social
Affairs and Labor (MOSAL),confirmed in a March 19 meeting
with EmbOffs news reports that the GOK has uncovered a scheme
to allow companies to hire foreign workers illegally. MOSAL
limits the numbers of expatriate workers that a company may
hire according to the size and nature of the business.
Companies that violate labor laws are also prevented from
hiring more expatriates. The scheme was to issue legitimate
workers a fraudulent MOSAL document allowing them to move
from one sponsor to another. A corrupt official at the
Ministry of Interior (MOI) would then use the forged document
to register the worker under the sponsorship of a business
that had either reached its limit or was prevented from
hiring workers because of legal infractions. The scheme was
uncovered when an employer went to MOSAL on administrative
business and discovered that MOSAL had a certain worker
registered under his sponsorship. He had what he believed to
be legitimate MOSAL documents proving that the worker had
been released from his sponsorship. As a result of his
discovery, MOSAL and MOI have agreed to cooperate, by linking
their computer systems among other things, to try to prevent
further fraud. The corrupt official has been arrested and is
being investigated, and MOI is reviewing his previous
transactions to look for fraud.


2. (SBU) Comment: Sham companies ("sharikat wahmiyya") have
emerged as a major source of TIP-related concerns. These are
companies that exist only on paper. Their proprietors fake
the companies' existence in order to sell work permits. The
workers often take out big loans to pay these fees only to
find they have no work. They are then in a very vulnerable
position because they cannot afford a ticket home, and even
if they could, they would have no way to pay back the money
they had borrowed. Therefore, the GOK's effort to uncover
and take legal measures against such operations is a key
step. The local press has covered such actions, alerting the
violators of labor law that they cannot act with impunity.
End Comment.

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LEBARON