Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KUWAIT913
2008-08-21 15:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

MOVING KUWAIT FORWARD ON LABOR STANDARDS

Tags:  PREL PHUM ELAB PGOV TIP KU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5837
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #0913/01 2341502
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 211502Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2023
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 1120
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 0292
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0408
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 1027
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0592
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0414
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000913 

SIPDIS

NEA/ARP
DRL FOR ANZALDUA
GTIP FOR PATEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB PGOV TIP KU
SUBJECT: MOVING KUWAIT FORWARD ON LABOR STANDARDS

REF: A. A) STATE 85534

B. B) KUWAIT 864

C. C) KUWAIT 799

D. D) MUSCAT 582

Classified By: Ambassador Deborah K. Jones for reasons 1.4 b and d

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000913

SIPDIS

NEA/ARP
DRL FOR ANZALDUA
GTIP FOR PATEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB PGOV TIP KU
SUBJECT: MOVING KUWAIT FORWARD ON LABOR STANDARDS

REF: A. A) STATE 85534

B. B) KUWAIT 864

C. C) KUWAIT 799

D. D) MUSCAT 582

Classified By: Ambassador Deborah K. Jones for reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (C) Embassy examined with interest and appreciation Ref A
suggestion that we explore addressing labor rights abuses in
Kuwait through a trilateral meeting with Kuwaiti and
Bangladeshi officials followed by a series of multilateral
roundtables with representatives of all major labor-sending
countries. Embassy finds merit in these suggestions, but
believes that circumstances on the ground warrant a somewhat
different approach.


2. (C) One of our principal concerns is to ensure that GOK
officials and Kuwaitis themselves take the lead on addressing
human rights and TIP concerns, including labor abuses. We
note, in this regard, that issuance of our TIP report on June
4 placing Kuwait in Tier 3, together with strikes by
Bangladeshi laborers reported Ref B, have sparked a great
deal of introspection and soul-searching among GOK officials,
parliamentarians, the media and the public at large.
Kuwaitis across the board express shame at seeing their
country in the spotlight over labor exploitation and related
TIP issues (also reported Ref C). At the same time, the GOK
and Kuwaitis in general are prickly about hectoring from the
U.S. or other embassies and about perceived interference in
domestic affairs. The Ambassador -- alone among her
counterparts (including those from the labor-exporting
countries) in addressing these issues publicly -- has been
explicitly accused in the press of inciting the recent riots
and of intervening improperly in Kuwait's internal affairs.


3. (C) Embassy believes that, given the enormous U.S.
strategic interests at stake here, our desire to help Kuwait
move forward on TIP issues is best served by continuing our
campaign of quietly but firmly engaging Kuwaitis at all
levels on this issue and by bolstering these discussions with
occasional public discussions, such as the Ambassador's June
9 press roundtable, where USG TIP concerns were aired. We

need to fine tune our efforts, however, so they don't
backfire. We are concerned that the suggestion of convening
trilateral meetings and roundtables, as proposed ref A, would
become publicly visible through Kuwaiti media and viewed by
Kuwaitis as unacceptable interference in their domestic
affairs. (Note: Even our appointment requests to the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor make their way into the
press, against the deafening silence from the embassies of
the labor-exporting countries. End Note.)


4. (C) Embassy supports energizing and focusing the concerns
of labor-exporting countries present in Kuwait and has been
doing so for some time. Beginning in mid-2007, Embassy
initiated informal bi-monthly meetings of the labor attaches
from ten embassies (including labor-exporting countries such
as Bangladesh, Phillipines, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) together
with the UN's International Office for Migration and
representatives from several EU countries. After initial
hesitation, a representative from the Indian Embassy also
joined. The purpose of these meetings has been to share
information, air problems, and consider joint approaches.
While no meeting has been held during the present summer
season, Embassy intends to encourage resumption of these
useful sessions soon. We note, however, that a continual
problem has been that the governments and senior diplomatic
representatives of labor-exporting countries have remained
extremely passive vis-a-vis the GOK and have invariably
looked to the USG to carry their message. India and Egypt
are in a somewhat different situation, as each country
appears to have a side-agreement with the GOK covering the
relatively skilled workers that these countries send to
Kuwait. Embassy believes that the Department might usefully
encourage the governments of the remaining labor-exporting
countries to raise their concerns with the GOK at senior
levels, here and in capitals. The USG cannot resolve this
issue on their behalf, without their active participation.


5. (C) Since reporting the strikes by Bangladeshi workers in
late July, Ambassador and POLCOUNS have continued to raise

KUWAIT 00000913 002 OF 003


USG concerns on this issue with GOK officials and other
foreign counterparts. We will continue to do so and will
raise with our GOK interlocutors their possible interest in a
low-key informal dialogue with the labor attache forum
described above.


6. (U) The GOK, embarrassed by the TIP report and ongoing
labor unrest, has taken some recent steps to address the
labor issue. These include the following:

-- The Council of Ministers on July 21 ratified year-old
anti-TIP legislation which will be submitted to Parliament
when it re-convenes in October. (Islamist MPs recently
drafted a competing anti-TIP bill.);

-- On August 5 the Council of Ministers approved a minimum
wage for foreign workers involved in cleaning work (40
KD/month) and security (70 KD/month) (Note: 1kD = USD 3.65);

-- The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) has
referred 13 labor-importing companies to the Attorney
General's Office for investigation of possible labor abuses;

-- MOSAL suspended the files of 25 cleaning companies,
theoretically prohibiting them from importing new laborers
until they have fulfilled outstanding salary obligations to
their employees;

-- MOSAL is taking steps to ensure that workers who are
employed under government contracts receive their full
salaries, through automated bank accounts;

-- MOSAL established a team of five legal researchers tasked
with ensuring that deported laborers receive salaries and
other entitlements due to them;

-- Parliament's Human Rights Committee is preparing a report
on labor issues for submission to the October session.


7. C) While these steps are significant, they are not
sufficient by themselves to resolve Kuwait's labor abuses
and, of course, do nothing to address Kuwait's other
outstanding TIP issues. Some of the GOK's responses to labor
unrest may be harsh. Media reports suggest that the GOK is
considering deporting up to 800,000 unskilled laborers over
the next three years. Many critics of the GOK's efforts to
tackle the problem note that the suspension or shutting-down
of labor-importing companies has little impact on the overall
problem since it is a simple matter for these companies to
re-emerge under a different name and get back to business.
The critics claim that a number of MPS and even one or two
members of the large ruling family are directly implicated in
the lucrative labor-importing business and that these
influential persons have, so far, managed to derail any
meaningful efforts to halt labor abuses. What is really
needed is a comprehensive law governing imported labor that
is implemented effectively.


8. (C) Embassy noted with interest Ref D, and we will quietly
point out to our GOK interlocutors that Gulf neighbor Oman
has successfully moved from TIP Tier 3 to the Tier 2
wathchlist largely on the basis of improvements in its
treatment of foreign workers. Kuwait has more work to do on
its treatment of foreign workers and also needs to make more
progress towards meeting GOK commitments addressed in the
Department's Tier 3 finding, which include enactment of
legislation prohibiting all forms of trafficking; increased
prosecutions and sentences for trafficking; development of a
fully operational shelter accessible to all victims of
trafficking; and technical training on the investigation and
prosecution of trafficking cases. Thus far, we cannot report
much progress on these goalposts. We fully intend to take
advantage of Kuwaitis' present embarassment over their bad
report card to press for better performance, but we need to
do so in a way that does not discourage or alienate them.





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KUWAIT 00000913 003 OF 003


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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