KUWAIT CITY, Oct 13: As per a classified document from the US embassy in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti government’s response to challenges posed by issues related to domestic workers is ‘slow’, adding the maltreatment of maids is still widespread and worrying, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
The document dating back to December 2009 was revealed by whistleblower WikiLeaks, and talks about efforts exerted by Major General Kamel Al-Awadhi-the head of Kuwait’s Immigration Department, to establish a government agency to organize the recruitment of domestic workers was meant to lift Kuwait from the blacklist of human trafficking.
The document quoted former US ambassador to Kuwait Deborah Jones as saying that Al-Awadhi had submitted the plan to the Kuwaiti government and met with the representatives of non-governmental organizations and government officials. The meeting was part of a workshop organized by the International Immigration Organization.
The former ambassador added that the representatives of Kuwait Trade Union and NGOs expressed reservations on allowing a single governmental agency to monopolize the recruitment of domestic workers. The document also revealed that the intended organization was planned to recruit domestic workers from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
Al-Awadhi said he had requested the support of embassies of those countries in 2008 to establish the proposed agency, adding that Bangladesh was the only party responding to his request.