Increase in domestic workers taking refuge in embassies; No radical solution found to crisis

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 5: A specialist in domestic labor affairs Bassam Al-Shammari affirmed that the current period is witnessing a return of the phenomenon of overcrowding of domestic workers inside the embassies of their countries in Kuwait, reports Aljarida daily. He explained that the building of the embassy of a particular country, which is considered as the first supplier of domestic workers to Kuwait, is filled to the brim with female domestic workers.

They include those who reported as absconding by their employers, or those with disputes between them and their sponsors and were unable to resolve their disputes amicably. Following the legal process through the Public Authority for Manpower takes a long time and they end up not receiving their full dues. Al-Shammari attributed the reason behind the exacerbation of this phenomenon once again to the decline of the role entrusted to the labor shelters of the Manpower Protection Sector in the authority.

This is based on the speedy containment of disputes that may erupt between female workers and their employers. This accumulation has prompted some embassies to issue internal circulars requiring the non-ratification of transactions of any local recruitment company or office with more than five domestic workers encountering problems with their sponsors.

He called on all relevant authorities, led by the Department for Regulating the Recruitment of Domestic Workers, to focus on correcting previous mistakes, and preventing the accumulation of domestic workers within the embassies of their countries, especially since such accumulation has been the most prominent reason for stopping the supply of the labor force of a particular nationality in the past. He indicated that the continuation of the phenomenon of seeking refuge in these embassies shows the government’s inability to find radical solutions to the crisis.

Al-Shammari warned of the increase in labor disputes and the consequent reluctance of new female workers to come to the Kuwaiti market because they do not feel safe inside it, given the reluctance of the relevant authorities to provide them with legal protection, or find a proper solution for disputes that erupt between them and their employers.

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