NEW LABOR MINISTER OPEN TO ENDING EXPATRIATE LABOR

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000554 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR NEA/ARPI, INL/HSTC AND G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM ELAB KU SUBJECT: NEW LABOR MINISTER OPEN TO ENDING EXPATRIATE LABOR SPONSOR SYSTEM ¶1. (U) New Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Shaykh Ali Al-Jarrah said that he is open to looking into alternatives to Kuwait's system of sponsorship of foreign workers. His remarks came in an interview with Al-Watan newspaper, in which he was aked about the ILO's request that Kuwait end the sponsorship system. (Note: Every foreign worker must have a "Kafeel" (sponsor) while in Kuwait. This system gives sponsors a great deal of leverage vis-a-vis workers, and widespread abuse has occurred, to the point that some workers become indentured servants. End Note.) ¶2. (SBU) The ILO visited Kuwait in 2005 to study labor conditions. Thabet Al-Haroun, the ILO representative in Kuwait, told PolOff that they met with Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor officials and made recommendations on three issues: the necessity of passage of the new Labor Law; finding alternatives to the sponsor system; and ending child labor. Al-Haroun is taking a wait-and-see approach as to whether the new Minister's pronouncement will have any effect. He was optimistic, however, that there will be progress on the Labor Law. He claims there is no major opposition to it, and it simply has been tied up bureaucratically. ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * TUELLER