VZCZCXRO1738
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHKU #1041/01 0841302
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251302Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3670
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0518

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001041 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARP, INL/HSTC, AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB RP KU TIP
SUBJECT: KUWAIT'S DOMESTIC LABOR ADMINISTRATION TAKES 
PRACTICAL APPROACH TO RESOLVING DOMESTIC WORKERS' COMPLAINTS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 921 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 436 
     ¶C. 05 KUWAIT 263 
     ¶D. 04 KUWAIT 350 
     ¶E. 03 KUWAIT 5561 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary and Comment.  PolOff and PolAssistant 
visited the Domestic Worker Administration (DWA) on March 18, 
and PolOff followed up with an unannounced visit to the DWA 
on March 22 to see how the GOK deals with domestic workers 
who have complaints.  The DWA's role, as reported to Emboffs 
by General Manager Colonel Esam No'mani, is to find, through 
consultation and negotiation, fast, practical solutions to 
problems brought by domestic workers.  While the DWA needs 
more authority and resources, the DWA represents a way for 
workers to obtain most or all of their missed wages and 
quickly exit work situations they find unacceptable.  It 
appears to be most effective at resolving disputes over 
salaries and benefits; cases involving allegations of 
physical or sexual abuse are referred to the Office of the 
Public Prosecutor.  Encouraging the GOK to build on native 
institutions such as the DWA, in addition to continued ESF 
funding for projects like FALCon (ref C) and RESPECT (ref A), 
will provide positive tools to help combat TIP and promote 
respect for human rights.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
The Domestic Worker Administration (DWA) 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The DWA is a division of the Ministry of Interior 
(MOI), which is responsible for the administrative and legal 
status of domestic workers in Kuwait.  It is housed on the 
upper floor of the Adiliya police station and administered by 
uniformed MOI officers as well as civilian lawyers. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Domestic workers may not go directly to the DWA. 
They must report to their embassy or their local police 
station if they have a complaint, and from there they are 
referred to the DWA.  If they report to a police station, 
they have the option of filing a case against an employer, 
but many employees justifiably fear that the employer will 
immediately retaliate by filing an "absconding" case.  This 
results in the domestic worker being kept in jail until the 
case can be passed to the investigator and eventually be 
resolved, often by deportation.  If the worker reports to an 
embassy and is referred to the DWA, however, the worker will 
not end up in jail and the DWA, together with the embassy, 
will strive to negotiate a solution without resorting to 
formal legal action. 
 
Three Days per Week for Filipina Domestic Worker Cases 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  On Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays, the 
Philippines Embassy is allowed to bring in domestic workers 
to have their cases mediated.  All other countries bring 
their workers on Sundays and Tuesdays.  Comment: Filipinas 
get more days than other nationalities because, although they 
make up only about 10 percent of domestic workers in Kuwait, 
they are much more assertive in demanding their rights and 
make up a disproportionate percentage of workers seeking 
redress.  Filipinas' greater assertiveness is likely due to 
two factors: (a) they have relatively higher levels of 
education, with high school or even university degrees not 
uncommon and (b) the well-regulated domestic labor office 
industry in the Philippines appears to do a better job of 
preparing them for overseas employment.  Also, workers from 
other countries often have to borrow heavily to pay 
exorbitant fees to come to Kuwait.  Therefore they are more 
vulnerable to manipulative employers since they cannot return 
home empty-handed.  Filipinas, at least in part because of 
the effective oversight of domestic labor offices, pay little 
or nothing to obtain work contracts to come to Kuwait, and 
therefore have less to lose by leaving a bad employer and 
perhaps being sent home.  This emphasizes the importance of 
source country prevention efforts.  End Comment. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  On Wednesday, March 22, PolOff observed James 
Mendiola, from the Philippines Embassy, working to resolve 
domestic workers' cases one at a time as approximately 30 
Filipinas waited in the hallway that serves as a lobby.  Each 
worker entered the office where Mendiola and Salim, the 
Kuwaiti negotiator, had respectively the English and Arabic 
copy of the worker's file.  After reviewing the case, Salim 
called the sponsor to come to the office to resolve the case, 
consulting the entire time with Mendiola about acceptable 
terms. 
 
 
KUWAIT 00001041  002 OF 003 
 
 
Employer Claimed Maid Practiced Magic 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  One maid seeking assistance had not been paid in 8 
months.  Her Kuwaiti employer, a Kuwait National Guard 
employee, arrived at the station and told PolOff that he 
agreed to pay the 8 months of salary, claiming that he had 
been holding the salary as insurance that she did not run 
away.  He had told her he did not want her to work for him 
anymore because she had been practicing black magic.  He had 
then put her to work for a relative, who also did not like 
her.  The employer agreed to pay fines of 50 Dinars (171 USD) 
the maid had incurred for being out of status, but not to pay 
for her airline ticket home, which is normally the sponsor's 
responsibility.  In response to PolOff's question of why she 
accepted not getting the plane ticket, Mendiola stated that 
domestic workers would try to get what they could rather than 
attempting to get absolutely everything and facing a 
drawn-out court battle.  The Embassy, the DWA, the employer, 
and the worker all signed that they agreed on the settlement 
terms and money was exchanged. 
 
Employer Was Holding Worker's Salary for "Safekeeping" 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Another maid claimed her sponsor owed her 16 
months of salary.  The sponsor produced a signed salary book 
(a requirement of all domestic labor employers in Kuwait) as 
proof that he had paid the first nine months.  The maid said 
that her employer had been keeping the salary so it would not 
be lost, but that she was not given the money when she asked 
for it.  This was the second time the sponsor had been called 
by the DWA.  The sponsor had agreed to pay 4 months salary 
the first time.  This time, however, Salim was able to 
convince the sponsor to pay the seven months for which there 
was no proof of payment. 
 
Case Unresolved 
--------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  In the third case observed by PolOff, the maid had 
not been paid for three months.  According to Mr. Mendiola, 
she was dissatisfied with her Kuwait experience and wanted to 
go home rather than try another employer.  Her case was not 
resolved.  She will stay at the Philippines Embassy shelter, 
a large room that was occupied by approximately 250 workers 
on a March 19 visit by PolOff.  Her case is not atypical, as 
most workers need to come to the DWA several times before 
their sponsor can be brought in. 
 
DWA's Approach: Practical Solutions 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  General Manager No'mani admitted that the DWA has 
no power to impose any punishments on sponsors who violate 
their contracts, such as fines or restrictions on sponsoring 
domestic workers in the future.  He told PolOff "I'm not a 
judge."  He agreed that some sort of penalty would be a good 
idea, but in the meantime his role was to broker an 
acceptable solution for both parties.  When PolOff asked if 
it were not possible to hire a few more negotiators, he said 
that they were hoping for a new, larger facility where that 
would be possible.  He also told PolOff they would get a 
computerized system to track cases when they moved to a new 
building.  He did not have an idea when that might be.  In 
cases where an agreement cannot be reached, the domestic 
worker can file a case.  Mendiola asserted that this can take 
up to two years, so most workers prefer to reach a 
settlement.  Mendiola feels that the DWA needs stronger 
powers to convince employers to cooperate, but that its 
activities over the past year represent a tangible 
improvement in the situation.  He agreed with No'mani's 
assessment that most workers are able to recover most or all 
of the wages due to them.  In non-salary cases, such as 
beatings and sexual harassment, the DWA transfers the case to 
the Public Prosecutor's Office. 
 
Shelter: a Welcome Idea 
----------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  In response to a question about a shelter, 
No'mani responded enthusiastically that this would be a great 
idea.  He reiterated what his superior, General Abdullah 
Al-Ruweih, told PolOff at a previous meeting (ref C), i.e. 
that this shelter is under study.  In a March 19 meeting with 
officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor 
(MOSAL), PolOff was told that the shelter is currently under 
study by the Kuwait Municipality, which is responsible for 
 
KUWAIT 00001041  003 OF 003 
 
 
allocating land in Kuwait.  PolOff contacted Municipality 
officials and is waiting for confirmation of an appointment. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
LEBARON