Ministry to go ahead with reducing number of expatriate labor forces Posted on 8/11/2013 The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is going forward with plans and strategies aimed at reorganizing the state’s demographic structure by reducing the number of expatriate labor forces. According to Local daily, Kuwiat Times, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi explained that the ‘reduction’ mechanism is mainly based on limiting commercial visitor’s visas to experts and staff required for major projects. Al-Rashidi further indicated in recent statements to Al-Rai that an announcement to establish the Public Authority for Labor Forces is expected soon. The authority will work on organizing expatriate labor forces and execute the ministry’s strategy, mainly to replace the sponsorship system under which employers have expanded power over an employee’s recruitment process and visa status. The sponsorship or ‘kafeel’ system also has loopholes often exploited by visa traffickers to release work permits on fake companies or non-existent job openings and then sell them to unskilled labor forces looking for a chance to work in the oil-rich Gulf region. Once they reach Kuwait, workers in most cases end up with no physical jobs, and resort to accepting hard labor and often live without valid visas. Such workers are often referred to in government rhetoric as ‘marginal labor forces’, and they have been identified by Al-Rashidi as the target of a plan announced last March to deport 100,000 foreigners each year as part of a plan to cut the country’s expatriate population by one million within a decade. There are nearly 90,000 people living illegally in Kuwait according to official figures. Crackdowns on illegal residents resulted in thousands of arrests and deportations over the past few months, but no there was no news about steps taken to pursue traffickers. Kuwait has been the subject of criticism from rights groups over the past few years over human rights’ violations resulting mainly from practices relating to deficiencies in the sponsorship system. Kuwait is home to 2.6 million expatriates who make 68 percent of the country’s 3.8 million population. In other news, Al-Rashidi also announced that the ministry resolved problems facing Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis when they apply for benefits from social security allowances they are entitled to. She explained that applicants are no longer required to provide a document proving that their husbands are unable to work due to a disability. On another note, minister Al-Rashidi clarified a ‘misconception’ regarding a picture published on Friday showing a senior citizen about to kiss her extended hand during her visit to social care homes during the first day of Eid Al-Fitr holiday. She told Al-Rai daily who published the photo that the moment was spontaneous and that she was caught off-guard by the old lady’s actions. She further explained that she pulled her hand away before the old lady could proceed to kiss it and instead, planted a kiss on the old lady’s head. Separately, a local charity group criticized the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor for delaying delivery of receipts during this year’s Ramadan charitable campaigns. “We received the receipts during the last 10 days of the holy month which gave us little time to start accepting charity from donors”, said Secretary of the Social Reform Society Dr Abdullah Al-Otaiqi during a reception held on the first day of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday. Licensed charity organizations in Kuwait are usually handed receipt books before Ramadan to use for collecting donations only through bank account deductions or K-Net services. The books are returned to the ministry after the holy month to carry out necessary checks, which are a part of efforts to tackle illegal money-related activities during the month that records the highest charity in the year. Read more at indiansinkuwait/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=25260&SECTION=0#ixzz2bjWe116W
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 06:24:55 +0000
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