Human trafficking still a
problem in Kuwait
Diana Elias
KUWAIT CITY — Annu, an Asian house maid, says she worked 19-hour
days for a year and was paid nothing.
Her eyes well up with tears as she slaps her hand, demonstrating
what her employers did when she reached out for food when it was
not lunchtime — the only meal they gave her. When she could
no longer stand the treatment, Annu fled for help to the embassy
of her homeland.
The gaunt 38-year-old, her black hair gathered at the back of her
head in a plastic clip, said she did not want to leave this tiny
oil-rich country and hoped to find a new employer. Her three children
back home need the money.
An average of 15 maids seek refuge at the embassy everyday, said
a diplomat there, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition
that he and his nation not be identified for fear of angering Kuwait.
About 166 maids currently were living in the embassy awaiting the
outcome of mediation with their employers, compensation for rape
or air tickets home.
Despite the terrible conditions under which many Asians work and
live, large numbers want to stay in Kuwait because their chances
of finding work that pays a decent wage at home are virtually nil.
In June, the U.S. State Department named its major ally Kuwait -
estimated population 2.7 million - as one of the countries doing
too little to combat human trafficking. The report cited abuse of
domestic workers and laborers, and the use of boys from South Asia
and Africa as jockeys in camel races.
The Bush administration then waived the threat of financial or cultural
sanctions on all countries on the list but Myanmar, Cuba and North
Korea. No explanation was given when the decision was announced
in September.
The American ambassador, Richard LeBaron, told reporters last month
that Kuwait has “good intentions and plans” for change
but “concrete actions are what will make the difference in
the re-evaluation of Kuwait’s practices.”
Beyond the approximately 450,000 domestic servants, tens of thousands
of laborers from the Indian subcontinent herd sheep in the desert;
collect garbage; clean streets, hospitals and government offices;
and work in agriculture for salaries as low as $68 a month.
Demonstrations by laborers claiming they are not paid for months
at a time are common. In April, more than 700 Bangladeshi workers
ransacked their country’s embassy in frustration. Newspaper
columnists have called their plight “slave trade.”
Lawmaker Ali al-Rashed, who heads the human rights committee in
Kuwait’s Parliament, said servant abuse is an “exception,”
and some maids “make up” stories of abuse to get out
of their contracts.
However, he conceded the government must act more quickly to guarantee
prompt payment of laborers and to punish companies that “harm
Kuwait’s reputation” by not meeting their obligations.
Some cleaning workers have told The Associated Press they depend
on charities for food.
Kuwait has imposed a ban on boys riding camels in races, with robots
having been introduced to take their places.
The government has a labor claims department but not all foreign
laborers know about it, speak enough Arabic to communicate their
grievances or can afford the transportation and time off from work
to use it.
In April 2004, the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration
proposed establishing a migrants’ resource center that would
provide advice and legal services for foreign workers who face problems
and do not know where to find help.
But Mohammed al-Nassery, the IOM’s chief of mission in Kuwait,
said he has not been able to find a way to gain access to maids
at their workplaces in a way that would not “compromise”
the privacy or integrity of the Kuwaiti household.
He said Muslim clerics should preach humane treatment of foreign
laborers, and human rights should be included in school books, adding
that changing behavior will take generations.
At the root of the grievances is the sponsorship system, which allows
a Kuwaiti individual to employ house help, dismiss them or send
them back home at whim. Although it is illegal, most hold the passports
of these workers.
The union that represents the 500 companies that recruit domestic
workers from Asian nations is writing new contracts to be signed
by maids, the sponsor and the recruitment agency. They are said
to limit working hours to eight per day, insure overtime payments
and a day off.
The Asian diplomat, however, said the contracts would be pointless
if maids, for example, are kept in the homes of their employers
and off limits to those who could help them.
Many Kuwaitis reject outside pressure for change, even from Washington,
the leading force in the 1991 Gulf War, which ended a seven-month
Iraqi occupation of this country.
A cartoon published in Al-Watan daily newspaper in November showed
a citizen telling what appeared to be a U.S. ambassador: “I
hope that you don’t think we have become your slaves because
you liberated us, Mr. Ambassador.”
When the diplomat told him they were using boys to ride camels in
races and not giving Asian workers their dues, the man replied:
“Ooh, I thought you were talking about something important.”
(Associated Press)
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