Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KUWAIT1684
2006-05-13 06:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR PRESSES FOR MORE EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO

Tags:  ELAB PHUM KU TIP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3571
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHKU #1684 1330631
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130631Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4414
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS KUWAIT 001684 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB PHUM KU TIP
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR PRESSES FOR MORE EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO
PREVENT ABUSIVE LABOR SITUATIONS

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001684

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB PHUM KU TIP
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR PRESSES FOR MORE EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO
PREVENT ABUSIVE LABOR SITUATIONS


1. (U) During a May 8 speech at the opening of a conference
entitled, "Kuwait: A Financial and Commercial Center," the
Ambassador praised recent Kuwaiti signature of UN labor
protocols to protect against trafficking, but emphasized that
more still needed to be done in Kuwait to protect basic
worker rights. In particular, the Ambassador stressed, "All
workers, both Kuwaiti and expatriate, both in the formal
sectors of the economy and in households, need to be treated
with fairness....I am not talking about special rights. I am
referring to basic rights: to be paid an agreed wage on time,
to control one's own passport, to have some means of
effective recourse in disputes, and to have shelter available
when needed." "No matter how prosperous a society becomes,
it will not be a successful society without recognizing the
essential dignity of labor," he concluded. The Ambassador's
remarks received front-page coverage in many Arabic-language
dailies on May 9.


2. (SBU) Commenting on the speech during a May 9 meeting
with the Ambassador, Ahmadi Governor Shaykh Ibrahim Al-Duaij
Al-Sabah agreed that the treatment of foreign laborers in
Kuwait remained a concern. "We care (about this problem) and
would like to get rid of it," he stressed. The Governor
emphasized, however, that the companies that recruited
foreign laborers and brought them to Kuwait were largely
responsible for the abuses. He believed the Ministry of
Social and Labor Affairs (MOSAL) in cooperation with source
countries needed to more thoroughly vet labor recruitment
agencies and ensure expatriate laborers received what they
were promised. Shaykh Ibrahim suggested source countries
require recruitment agencies to pay a deposit equal to six
months of the laborer's promised salary to guarantee payment
and prevent abuse. The Ambassador noted that Kuwait's
"corrupt" work visa sponsorship system contributed to the
problem. Shaykh Ibrahim reiterated his opinion that the
recruitment agencies and MOSAL's poor enforcement of existing
regulations were the primary causes of Kuwait's labor
problems.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s

Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
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LEBARON