LABOR MINISTER TO REVITALIZE EXPAT LABOR COMMITTEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000745 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARPI, INL/HSTC, AND G/TIP E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2016 TAGS: PHUM KCRM ELAB KU TIP SUBJECT: LABOR MINISTER TO REVITALIZE EXPAT LABOR COMMITTEE AND INCLUDE NGOS IN POLICY PROCESS REF: KUWAIT 724 ¶1. (U) Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Shaykh Ali Al-Jarrah publicly announced that Prime Minister Shaykh Nasser Mohammad has personally asked him to fight residence-permit trading and other violations of expatriate worker rights. The statement was covered in the March 1st edition of the local Arabic daily Al-Qabas. Al-Jarrah said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) would activate its relevant units and use all means at its disposal to fight sham companies that exist only to sell residence permits. Shaykh Ali further mentioned that he would seek to revitalize the role of Permanent Committee to Treat Foreign Labor Affairs. Among the actions he will take will be to ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs to appoint a representative to the committee, which currently has representation from MOSAL, the Ministry of Interior, and the Commerce and Industry Ministry. ¶2. (C) The Minister also said MOSAL would bring in NGOs as partners in treating a number of issues, including expatriate worker issues. Note: The Chairman of the Social Work Society of Kuwait (SWS) (reftel),Faisal Al-Masoud, called this a "revolution" in the way MOSAL works. He further claimed that the main NGO that Shaykh Ali had in mind was SWS, and that this was a signal that MOSAL's goals are in line with SWS. SWS favors changes to the labor law that would provide greater protection for expatriate laborers. End Note. ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * LEBARON