NEW NGO LOBBIES GOVERNMENT OF KUWAIT ON EXPAT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000724

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2016
TAGS: PHUM KCRM ELAB KU
SUBJECT: NEW NGO LOBBIES GOVERNMENT OF KUWAIT ON EXPAT
LABOR, SAYS SHELTER IS NOT THE ANSWER

REF: A. KUWAIT 698

B. KUWAIT 505

C. KUWAIT 42

Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: PolOff met on March 1st with the Social Work
Society (SWS) of Kuwait, a new NGO devoted to advocating for
expatriate labor rights. The NGO claims it has found
corruption in the GOK's dealings with foreign laborers, but
it is optimistic about the new government's declared focus on
political and economic reform. SWS has carried out what it
claims to be the first independent studies documenting
expatriate labor issues, which it plans to use in a media
campaign. It opposes the idea of a domestic labor shelter.
SWS looks negatively on the Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor
Offices (KUDLO),an important Embassy contact on TIP-related
issues (reftels),because it doubts KUDLO's motives. SWS has
the political backing of the Amir's granddaughter. End
Summary.


Social Work Society of Kuwait (SWS)
--------------


2. (C) PolOff met on March 1st with representatives of the
recently-licensed (October 2005) Social Work Society of
Kuwait (SWS) (http://www.q8sws.com) to discuss its efforts to
address expatriate labor issues in Kuwait. The Vice Chair of
the organization is Shaykha Bibi Nasser Al-Sabah,
granddaughter of the Amir and daughter of the Amir's son
Nasser Al-Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Minister for Amiri Diwan
Affairs. Shaykha Bibi says her position as a close relative
of the Amir signals to Kuwaitis that the Amir backs her
positions, even though she admits that he only knows she is
"involved in human rights." This "wasta"
(connections/influence) is crucial, because Shaykha Bibi has
been told she will make powerful enemies if she attempts to
challenge the current arrangements between sponsoring
employers and laborers. The chairman of the organization is
Faisal Al-Masoud, an American-trained ex-fighter pilot who
works with the Kuwaiti National Guard and is involved in a
number of governmental committees on social issues and NGOs.

SWS Claims Government Corruption in Labor Issues
-------------- ---


3. (C) SWS started its work by intervening in a number of
individual worker rights cases. Through this experience,
members noticed systemic problems such as corruption and
bureaucratic inefficiency. Specifically, they noted that
officials in the General Administration for Investigation at
the Ministry of the Interior colluded in the illegal
detention of workers in exchange for favors from the workers'
sponsors. (Note: The General Administration for
Investigation has at least one investigator at each police
station and has a great deal of discretionary power to detain
or release people who are brought to the police stations. End
Note.) This enables sponsors to punish or threaten employees
with whom they have conflicts. SWS officials reported that
Sa'ad Abdul-Razzaq Al-Di'i, the former head of the Kuwaiti
Investigation Service, was particularly obtrusive in
preventing laborers' cases from proceeding to court. The
organization sees Al-Di'i's recent ouster (approximately two
months ago) as removing a major obstacle to workers obtaining
their rights. They went on to say they have inside
information that he is facing legal troubles himself. SWS
confirmed anecdotal reports from some source country
embassies that the courts are fair arbiters of labor issues.

Efforts to Effect Legislative Change
--------------


4. (C) SWS has performed extensive surveys of domestic and
private sector expatriate laborers. It said most previous
studies were performed by the GOK, which made respondents
less likely to answer candidly. It is in the process of
synthesizing the raw data (samples of which were provided to
PolOff) into studies that it can use to lobby the Government
for reform. SWS claims to have strong connections with
Members of Parliament and the Government who support their
cause, but who did not see workable solutions to expatriate
labor issues. The SWS studies and the conclusions that
result are meant to fill that void.


5. (C) SWS is planning a media campaign of seminars, some of
which it says will be televised, and brochures to build
support for changes to Kuwaiti Labor Law. It plans to use
Shaykha Bibi's connections to get the support of large
private sector companies so that the media campaign will not

KUWAIT 00000724 002 OF 002


appear to be an attack on their profitability. Furthermore,
it sees the new Amir as the "Amir of Reform" and think his
accession bodes well for change.

SWS Opposed to Shelter
--------------


6. (C) SWS strongly opposes a shelter for domestic laborers.
Al-Masoud and Shaykha Bibi think the shelter will create
more problems than it solves. Primary among these problems
is that if crime or violence occurs within the shelter, it
will reflect badly on the Government. They acknowledge that
workers sometimes need shelter, but that solving the
underlying issues (improvements to the labor law and putting
the domestic labor recruitment offices out of business) will
be the best way to help workers.

SWS Views KUDLO Negatively
--------------


7. (C) SWS said it knew of no other organizations that were
active in worker rights issues. When asked about KUDLO,
Shaykha Bibi and Al-Masoud responded that Fadhel Ashkenani,
its leader, is the "biggest slave trader in Kuwait." They
suspect the organization of trying to monopolize the domestic
labor market in Kuwait and doubt its sincerity in working for
domestic labor rights. (Comment: KUDLO's actions on the
ground seem to contradict SWS's contentions, but KUDLO does
have business interests in the domestic labor industry.
Though KUDLO may genuinely want to improve the situation of
workers in Kuwait, it also wants to monopolize the industry.
Such a monopoly could make it easier to regulate the
industry, which is now an extremely difficult task because of
the existence of dozens or even hundreds of such agencies.
But such a monopoly could also be dangerous if abused. End
Comment.) SWS suggests that the recruitment agencies be done
away with and that the Ministry of the Interior or Ministry
of Social Affairs and Labor act as the facilitator of
domestic employment.

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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