VZCZCXRO3571
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHKU #1684 1330631
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130631Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4414
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001684 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, G/TIP, AND INL/HSTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM KU TIP
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR PRESSES FOR MORE EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO 
PREVENT ABUSIVE LABOR SITUATIONS 
 
¶1.  (U) During a May 8 speech at the opening of a conference 
entitled, "Kuwait: A Financial and Commercial Center," the 
Ambassador praised recent Kuwaiti signature of UN labor 
protocols to protect against trafficking, but emphasized that 
more still needed to be done in Kuwait to protect basic 
worker rights.  In particular, the Ambassador stressed, "All 
workers, both Kuwaiti and expatriate, both in the formal 
sectors of the economy and in households, need to be treated 
with fairness....I am not talking about special rights.  I am 
referring to basic rights: to be paid an agreed wage on time, 
to control one's own passport, to have some means of 
effective recourse in disputes, and to have shelter available 
when needed."  "No matter how prosperous a society becomes, 
it will not be a successful society without recognizing the 
essential dignity of labor," he concluded.  The Ambassador's 
remarks received front-page coverage in many Arabic-language 
dailies on May 9. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Commenting on the speech during a May 9 meeting 
with the Ambassador, Ahmadi Governor Shaykh Ibrahim Al-Duaij 
Al-Sabah agreed that the treatment of foreign laborers in 
Kuwait remained a concern.  "We care (about this problem) and 
would like to get rid of it," he stressed.  The Governor 
emphasized, however, that the companies that recruited 
foreign laborers and brought them to Kuwait were largely 
responsible for the abuses.  He believed the Ministry of 
Social and Labor Affairs (MOSAL) in cooperation with source 
countries needed to more thoroughly vet labor recruitment 
agencies and ensure expatriate laborers received what they 
were promised.  Shaykh Ibrahim suggested source countries 
require recruitment agencies to pay a deposit equal to six 
months of the laborer's promised salary to guarantee payment 
and prevent abuse.  The Ambassador noted that Kuwait's 
"corrupt" work visa sponsorship system contributed to the 
problem.  Shaykh Ibrahim reiterated his opinion that the 
recruitment agencies and MOSAL's poor enforcement of existing 
regulations were the primary causes of Kuwait's labor 
problems. 
 
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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/ 
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LEBARON