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Labour Unrest Kuwait mulls change in sponsor rules

AFP, Ahn«H City
Kuwait said yesterday it was considering alternatives for its widely-criticised employee sponsor system after violent protests by foreign workers demanding better conditions.
"We are considering alterna-tives for the sponsor system to meet international labour standards," Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Bader al-Duwaila told an emergency session of parliament.
Under the system, any foreign worker in Kuwait must be sponsored by a Kuwaiti employer, thus keeping expatriates at the mere}’ of their bosses. Other oil-rich Gulf states apply the same system.
The emergency .session was called by about 35 MPs in the 50-member parliament to debate violent protests by thousands of Bangladeshi workers in July to demand better pay and working conditions. Around 1,000 workers were later deported.
Parliament's human rights committee had on Monday called for a review of the sponsorship system to try to stop employers from abusing hundreds of thousands of foreign labourers.
Oil-rich Kuwait is home to 2.35 million foreigners, more than two-thirds of them Asians, and over one
million native citizens.
Duwaila told parliament that the government was studying a proposal to set up a public company to recruit foreign manpower in a bid to end so-called visa trading under which employers demand hefty sums in exchange for residence permits.
He acknowledged that senior ministry officials were involved in visa trading, adding that a number had been referred to a special interior ministry department for investigation.
The minister said he has also referred more than 60 local companies for investigation for failing to pay salaries of labourers or not
providing adequate accommodation.
Following the unrest, the government introduced a mininum monthly wage of 40 dinars (150 dollars) for cleaners and 70 dinars (261 dollars) for security guards.
The decision, however, applies only to those working for companies on government contracts. Duwaila said the government was considering expanding it to all.
The average monthly pay for Kuwaiti citizens is around 1,000 dinars (3,740dollars).
The minister said the government has submitted a draft law to combat people trafficking to parliament for approval.