Oh Your Highness the PM, get rid of human traffickers

This news has been read 7351 times!

Ahmed Al-Jarallah Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

THIS time we will not only address Minister of Interior or Minister of Social Affairs, but we will also address His Highness the Prime Minister and the entire government directly by saying, “Kuwait, its entire security aspects, its reputation and the reputation of its people are entrusted to you. Therefore, protect them all from human traffickers who are referred as “visa traders” to dilute the effect of the actual term for them. They have offended the country and its people, and they continue to frustrate the humanitarian efforts being exerted by the global political leadership.

We ask you, gentlemen – How is Kuwait the center for humanitarian work and its Amir the only global humanitarian leader, as per the United Nation resolution in this regard, when there are people living among us who bring from overseas poor people who are in need of work in order to earn a better living but end up becoming victims of these human traffickers?

These traffickers are committing the most heinous crimes against their victims. They charge from KD 1,000 to even KD 2,000 for a visa and about KD 500 for residency renewal. They then throw these victims out on the street without providing either work or shelter for them. So what are these unemployed victims expected to do in desperate times?

Indeed we say again – These traffickers are not part of humanity in any way. The matter must not only stop at their imprisonment, but the money they received from their victims should be taken from them and returned to their rightful owners who slashed the money from the livelihood of their families. Some of them even sold everything they own in order to come to Kuwait to earn a living. Many of these people who came from Egypt, India or any other country had borrowed money to come to Kuwait in the hope of earning a decent living from their sweat, not to be thrown on the streets and become a burden on the state.

Some of these companies intentionally confiscate the salaries of those who work 16 hours a day, and end up giving them chicken feed. What is the fault of these victims, we beg to ask?!

To top all this torture, they face a terrible racist rhetoric, as if they are the sinners and not those who brought them to the country.

O Prime Minister, this matter must be the main concern of the entire government, because it represents a great danger to the country. We only have to read international reports that criticize Kuwait for being lenient about these crimes. This puts us in an embarrassing position before the international community.

Throughout the world, a job seeker travels to a certain country where he or she gets an official work permit from the government of that country. If he fails to secure a work permit, he returns to his country. Such a person does not resort to human traffickers or end up paying a heavy financial price in order to secure a work permit. Even in the establishments where such a person would work, there is constant follow-up to ensure no crime is committed against any person in the name of securing a job.

His Highness the Prime Minister, treat the disease from its root, not its symptoms. Expose the names of the traders and their companies. Inflict the most severe punishment on them. Do not allow anyone to offend Kuwait for any consideration whatsoever, until it becomes in effect the center of humanitarian work, and no one can stain its white pages with this forbidden trade.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

This news has been read 7351 times!

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