KUWAIT CITY, Dec 5: “Kuwait is witnessing the phenomenon of trafficking in residences, not human trafficking,” says Head of Kuwait branch of International Organization for Migration (IOM) Iman Erekat.
Speaking to Al-Qabas daily, she said Kuwait managed to restrain a large number of residence traffickers and added that the cancellation of the sponsorship system will eliminate the human trafficking phenomenon altogether.

Erekat mentioned that if the sponsorship system is cancelled, its benefits should reach everyone, starting from the employee, employer until the government and “our organization is ready to offer aid and advice in this regard.”

Erekat said her office will organize a workshop and training course on ‘Kafeel System’ for all parties in the labor sector in January 2011 and another workshop to raise the level of government systems.

She noted that the organization doesn’t have any hidden agenda and added that “we work in broad daylight. We are a consultative organization and are proud of our distinguished experience in Kuwait.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is getting ready to issue many new ministerial decisions to support Law No. 6/2010 related to work in the private sector, reports Al-Jarida daily.
An informed source said the decisions will alleviate the suffering of private sector employees.  
The source also stated that the ministry is keen on improving the level of services offered by the cooperative sector and mentioned that board of directors of cooperative societies should be held accountable for the shortage seen at some cooperative markets. “The ministry is amending some articles related to cooperative sector in order to get a better control on these societies,” added the source.

According to the cooperative law, cooperative societies are independent bodies and the ministry supervises their performance. The ministry cannot manage any cooperative society on behalf of the board of directors, said the source.