ShareThe cancellation of the sponsorship system has become a priority in many countries, in accordance with recommendations of international human rights organizations and a commitment to global treaties to secure human and labor rights. Kuwait has made several attempts in order to advance in this aspect, especially as human rights reports about Kuwait have focused on this issue, which has been a great disservice for some time.
A positive step was taken by the Kuwaiti government in favor of expats by the establishment of the for Manpower General Authority and the issuance of a law regulating civil work. Official statements have emphasized the absence of what is called a 'sponsor' in Kuwaiti laws, which talk about an employer and employee and a work contract signed between the two parties. Nevertheless, sponsorship as a term has remained an obsession for migrant workers because of its strength before the law, and sometimes as a tool of manipulation and fraud.
This contract defines the relationship between business owners and workers that binds and regulates the parties, but the reality today confirms that the sponsor still exists strongly, and due to corruption and bribery, some Kuwaitis have become very wealthy visa traders through the years. Despite the multiplicity of governments, these visa traders have maintained their ranks. The sad thing here is that workers' complaints constitute a misuse of the reputation of Kuwait as a government, state and citizens, and regardless of the government's attempts to address some of these traders and labor troubles, this issue is still a shame for us as a civil society.
In 2014, the General Secretariat of the National Assembly conducted a study on visa trading and human rights in Kuwait. The study made a clear recommendation to abolish the sponsorship system. The reasons for this were the non-compliance by some sponsors to terms of contracts, especially with relation to specific working hours for workers, along with a series of obstacles and problems, such as administrative deportation, lack of social security and slow action on litigation. All these are examples of acts that occur constantly in our society despite the existence of many laws, regulations and international agreements, but the problem is the lack of effective implementation of these laws. So we don't need more laws but actual enforcement of existing ones.
Visa traders have flooded the country with laborers, that has brought nothing but many ethical problems, crime, fraud, drug trafficking and prostitution. The Ministry of Social Affairs recently made some adjustments in fees for changing and transferring work permits, which is a prerogative of the state and one cannot argue about it.
But there is a need to activate and apply programs for foreign workers about their rights and duties, especially for cleaners, who may be illiterate and unaware of their rights as workers. There is a need for modern labor cities to be built to maintain a decent standard of living for expatriates and the application of international security, housing and human dignity standards.
There are bad sponsors, but there are good ones too. There is no harm to set laws to regulate the relation between the two parties. Laws should protect the country from any manipulation by newcomers and nepotism that have caused many problems between workers and employers, including instances where workers leave their initial employers after receiving driving licenses and changing their job description to get two jobs in two different places and thus weaken labor productivity. Some fear the cancellation of the sponsorship system will lead to chaos, because a worker may leave his initial employer for another one for more money, so what about the employer's rights?
Problems of this type also occur due to the ignorance of a worker who doesn't have a real job contract and rushes to pay money to unknown people. It's easy to fall into the trap of visa and residency trafficking, but difficult to get out. Bureaucracy, bribery and corruption do not mean that Kuwait is characterized by darkness when it comes to expats, so the eradication of visa traders without mercy is essential. If we really do not have a 'sponsor' in our laws, then let us show it for real.
