Kuwait deported 29,000 migrants in 2016 – and the parliament wants to deport...
Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior Affairs announced that at least 29,000 expats were deported in 2016 - about 80 persons a day. This is a meaningful increase from the 25,000 deported in 2015. A Ministry...
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Stranded Serbian Workers Deported from Kuwait for Complaining
Last month, eight Serbian construction workers headed from a worksite in Ardiya to the Serbian embassy in Bayan on the first leg of a long journey home. They had arrived in Kuwait a couple of months...
View ArticleThese are not exceptional scenarios, These are not individual cases!
We all saw the video of the Ethiopian worker who was holding to the verge of a window before falling off the seventh floor of a building in Kuwait. People in Kuwait and elsewhere were shocked and...
View ArticleRegulations introduced to strengthen Kuwait’s domestic workers’ law offer...
The Ministry of Interior Affairs announced several regulations in 2016 and early 2017 to complement the domestic workers' law that came into effect in 2015. The regulations elaborate on payment of...
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Kuwait Society for Human Rights launches hotline & e-platform for expat workers
The Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KSHR) has launched a hotline for expatriate workers to submit complaints and understand their legal rights. The hotline 22215150 is available in Arabic, Arabic,...
View ArticleGulf Media Continues to Normalise Abuse of Domestic Workers
Migrant-Rights.org has spotlighted the negative portrayal of migrant workers in Gulf media since our launch in 2009. Over the years, these pieces have included: Mistreatment of Domestic Workers in a...
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From Doha to Kuwait: Fashion Fridays builds bridges
Rarely are migrant workers visible in the glitzy cities they build in the GCC states; and when they are, the sartorial association is typically blue overalls, hard hats or cheap pyjamas that pass off...
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Where goats are king and men suffer
Rajayah Yenkampally, a 43-year-old native of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, is on a train home from Mumbai. “I Landed at Mumbai airport from Kuwait today (Saturday). Still it hurts. I...
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Kuwaiti doctor who blinded her maid now embroiled in another torture case
A Kuwaiti physician who was convicted and jailed for hitting the left eye of her domestic worker and causing permanent blindness in 2014 is now under arrest for torturing another domestic worker. A...
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Indian torture victim awaits justice in Kuwait
Forty-three-year-old Padma from Andhra Pradesh, India, is a new arrival at Kuwait City’s temporary shelter for women. But she has endured severe trauma for five years; her employers subjected her to...
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Despite ongoing contracts, many Kharafi employees work without pay
In the camp in West Shuhaiba industrial area, a desolate Kharafi National branded basketball court is the muster point for workers in the adjacent camp. This camp houses mainly Thai and Filipino...
View ArticleKuwait declares amnesty; fails to solve problem of non-payment
The Kuwait government has declared an amnesty for irregular migrants effective Jan 29 to Feb 22. As thousands of workers from a single company – Kharafi National – have been left stranded, this move...
View ArticleChathaba: The Accusation Against Every Domestic Worker
“I kept yelling and yelling, but he closed the door, and no one could hear me. It’s been 23 years but I’ll never forget that memory in my heart,” Amy* says. At age 19, Amy, like many other domestic...
View ArticleKuwait: Proposed fees on expatriate remittances and increases in residency...
A bill to tax expatriate remittances has been approved by Kuwait's Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, and now awaits approval by the Parliament at large. The proposed fees are staggered by...
View ArticlePhilippines and Kuwait to sign labour agreement before Ramadan
The Philippines and Kuwait are set to a sign a labour agreement before Ramadan begins. The Philippines banned deployment to Kuwait in February, following reports of severe abuse against Filipino...
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“We want people to have dignity.” An interview with Bibi Al Sabah, Founder of...
Speaking about – let alone advocating for – the rights of low-income labour migrants is polarising in the best of environments. For Bibi Nasser Al Sabah, 15 years of this work has been a process of...
View ArticleLabour agreement in question as Philippines-Kuwait relationship deteriorates
UPDATE: President Duerte announced today, April 29, that the ban on Filipino workers to Kuwait is now permanent. "The ban stays permanently. There will be no more recruitment for — especially domestic...
View ArticleKuwait and Philippines sign domestic labour agreement; Philippines lifts ban
Kuwait and the Philippines have signed a MoU on the employment of domestic workers. Provisions of the agreement include commitments to 24/7 hotline and creation of a special police unit to respond to...
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In Kuwait, the discourse on migrant workers is lively and divided
Screenshot from Alqattan's Instagram Blogger Sondos Alqattan’s blase tirade against basic rights for domestic workers is the latest video to go viral from Kuwait for the wrong reasons. The...
View ArticleKuwait raises the minimum salary required for migrants to sponsor their families
Kuwait has raised the minimum wage required for foreigners to sponsor families from 450 Kuwaiti Dinars (USD 1,481) to 500 Kuwaiti Dinars (USD1,646) per month. The decision maintains an existing...
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