GOK TWEAKS GROUNDBREAKING SPONSORSHIP REFORM

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000844

SIPDIS

NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KWMN KTIP ELAB KU
SUBJECT: GOK TWEAKS GROUNDBREAKING SPONSORSHIP REFORM

REF: KUWAIT 788


1. (U) Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) Minister
Mohammad Al-Afasi issued a groundbreaking resolution on
August 9 allowing foreign workers in Kuwait's private sector
for the first time to quit their jobs and change to a new
employer provided they had remained with their current
employer for at least three years. (Prior to August 9, these
foreign workers could not change sponsors without their
employers' permission.) Within a few days of issuing this
reform, however, Al-Afasi issued a clarification August 13
requiring that cashiers and other foreign workers involved in
finance obtain an affidavit of release from their employer
before being able to change sponsors.

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Who can transfer sponsors under the new August 9 three-year
rule?
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2. (U) Mansour Al-Mansour, Assistant Undersecretary for
MOSAL's labor section, told PolOff on August 25 that the
three-year rule applies exclusively to foreign workers in
Kuwait's private sector and excluded the domestic workers
who, coincidentally, are those most vulnerable to trafficking
abuses. Of Kuwait's nearly two million foreign workers, over
100,000 work in the public sector, some half a million work
in the private sector as domestic workers, and another
approximately one million work in the private sector. The
new three-year rule applies solely to these one million
foreign workers. If the foreign worker's private sector
company is operating under a GOK contract, the worker will
not be allowed to transfer sponsors until the contract
between the company and the GOK is finished.

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Who must obtain employer permission under the August 13
decree?
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3. (U) According to the August 13 decree, foreign workers
involved in handing finances -- such as cashiers -- require a
"quittance" -- or clearing of accounts -- from their employer
in order to change sponsors. According to Al-Mansour, MOSAL
will waive the quittance requirement if the worker signs a
pledge that no funds are owed and the employer is unable to
prove otherwise. When asked how many foreign workers had
been allowed to transfer sponsors under the new three-year
rule, Al-Mansour said that it is difficult to tell because
MOSAL , in tallying the number of workers who have
transferred, makes no distinction between cases under the new
law and those transferring under prior practices.

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Comment
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4. (SBU) This reform should help thousands of eligible
foreign workers who are seeking to change employers. By
enabling talented workers to switch to better jobs and
employers more easily, this improvement in labor mobility
should also promote greater economic efficiency. For MOSAL
Minister Al-Afasi, who has only been in office since May, the
adoption of this measure represents an impressive achievement
that parallels his constant public campaigning for even more
far-reaching reform of Kuwait's foreign worker sponsorship
system. His August 9 decision presages, we believe, a
positive new attitude on the part of MOSAL towards promotion
of the rights of expat workers, and may lead to even more
reform.

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visit Kuwait's Classified Website at:

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WILLIAMS