‘Cancellation of sponsorship system still under study’
KUWAIT: A meeting between the representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was held to put finishing touches to a draft law to import foreign manpower into the country, reports Al-Dar daily quoting a reliable from the Social Affairs and Labor Ministry as saying.
The source also said the participants in the meeting also viewed a complete report submitted by a committee which was formed earlier for the purpose.
The source added it is too early to talk about the cancellation of the sponsor system due to lack of clear steps in this direction.
The source indicated the ministry had requested international organizations to submit studies how to go about canceling the sponsorship system but to date no reports or studies have been submitted.
The source added the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor should present a study to the Cabinet to enact legal legislation on the expatriate workforce before taking any initiative to cancel the sponsorship system.
The source noted the Members of Parliament had rejected the cancellation of the sponsorship system saying this step would create confusion in the absence of a clear cut application of a law and steps disclosed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.
Meanwhile, draft bills are being prepared to regulate the domestic labor sector and unify wages in the Gulf, reports Alam Alyawm daily quoting sources.
Sources said a delegation of officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, along with senior officers from the General Immigration Department, will represent Kuwait in a meeting that will be held soon in Abu Dhabi, to deliberate on the stipulation of laws that will allow certain countries to send household workers to the Gulf nations and to set a minimum wage for these workers.
Sources confirmed the meeting comes in the wake of some countries’ refusal to send their citizens to work as domestic laborers to the Gulf states, while demanding the concerned authorities to raise salaries which some consider exorbitant.
In a related development, security sources have refuted rumors that an entry ban slapped on six nationalities due to the political conflicts in their home countries has been lifted. Sources asserted there is no truth in these allegations because the ban is still in place.
