Kuwait Times

Published Date: April 01, 2010
By Khaled Abdullah, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Kuwait intends to set minimum wages for expatriate workers in the private sector to ensure decent living conditions for them, the minister of social affairs and labor announced yesterday. " The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor will approve proper mechanisms to enforce minimum wages for various worker categories in the private sector," Mohammed Al-Afasi told a press conference after presiding over a meeting with the ministry's human rights team yesterday.

He said the ministry has enforced several regulations that would abolish the kafeel (sponsor) system, adding that the ministry is in the process of establishing an independent labor authority. "The laws and conditions of human rights will be observed in Kuwait," Afasi affirmed, adding that the ministry's team was preparing a document to show Kuwait's commitment to human rights.

He stressed that the ministry is keen to ensure freedom of expression to enable expat workers to convey their demands to the relevant authorities through legitimate channels that guarantee the elimination of any harm and ensure the continuity of work. Afasi announced that the ministry has received a new facility to provide proper and humane shelter for workers who have been exposed to physical abuse, violence or were not granted their rights in a way to preserve their dignity.

He added that the working conditions of female employees will be improved to meet international standards. "The ministry will ensure that women workers are not subjected to any form of restrictions while performing their duties," the ministry said, adding that the ministry will issue a number of regulations in this respect. The meeting was attended by ministry's Undersecretary Mohammad Al-Kandari, Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Jamal Al-Dousari and a number of senior ministry officials.

Separately, Kuwait ranks third in the world among countries that have the highest proportion of migrant workers following Qatar and UAE, according to a report which was published yesterday. The study called "International labor migration: A rights-based approach" says that the dearth of "decent jobs" in the developing world that are not "created fast enough to absorb the growing numbers of people ready to join the labour force every year" have in a way created a demand for employment in other countries.


The report published by the Geneva-based International Labour Organization examines trends in international labour migration, its impacts on origin and destination countries, and conditions of work experienced by migrant workers. The study also explores how standards can be used in the formulation and implementation of migration policies and practices.

In a press release posted on the ILO website, the organization says that "amid growing challenges due to the global economic crisis", the study highlights the need to adopt a "rights-based approach" to provide a "fair deal" for the world's 105 million migrant workers. Migration, the study says, can thus be seen as a means to increase economic security. "In Pakistan, for instance, emigration to the Gulf countries resulted in increased wages for skilled construction workers and possibly also for low-skilled
construction and agricultural workers. The report also says that "serious problems would arise in many countries if most migrants suddenly returned home. This, in fact, happened after the first Gulf War in 1990, when about 2 million foreign workers were driven out of Kuwait and Iraq and went back home, seeking work in their own countries.

The report highlights that in the Middle East, "there are large wage disparities between national and migrant workers, as well as a high level of segmentation in the labour market". In some destination countries there are even differences in rates of pay between groups of migrant workers: that is migrant workers of the some nationalities receive more pay for the same or similar work than migrant workers of other nationalities, the study said. " "An ILO study on Kuwait revealed that migrants from the Phi
lippines working in Kuwait tended to receive higher salaries than those from South Asia," the report said.

The study brings out the positive contributions made by migrant workers to both their countries of employment and origin. However, it also highlights the decent work and protection deficits they still experience today, including low wages, non-payment of wages, unsafe working environments, a virtual absence of social protection, denial of freedom of association and workers' rights, discrimination and xenophobia," the release says.

International migration is primarily a labour market, employment and decent work issue, and less a security and asylum seeker-refugee issue", Ibrahim Awad, chief of the ILO's International Migration Branch was quoted in the press release as saying. "The challenge is to govern migration in such a way that it can serve as a force for growth and prosperity in both origin and destination countries, while protecting and benefitting migrant workers themselves," he added.