Black Market For Domestic Workers Booming Due To The Suspension Of Domestic Recruitment Offices

The black market for domestic workers is booming due to the continued suspension of domestic recruitment offices, and the recruitment of workers from abroad due to measures taken to fight the coronavirus, Al Qabas reports.

Brokers are filling the void by providing domestic labor services illegally and at high prices, taking advantage of the demand from clients and the lack of competition.

These brokers are advertising services of domestic workers usually African and Asian nationals, to work at people’s homes at a price of KD25 dinars for 4 hours and KD250 dinars per month.

Al-Qabas daily said, quoting sources, illegal domestic workers network split the money earned with the domestic workers, with the worker taking KD10 for her 4-hour work while 15 dinars is the cut for the broker.

The Residency Affairs Department, in coordination with the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), has arrested people, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, involved in these networks for employing illegal domestic workers, and it was discovered 90 percent of these domestic workers are in violation of the residency and labor law.

These female domestic workers have absentia reports registered against them before the start of the coronavirus pandemic or have fled from their sponsor’s home during the pandemic. There are also those whose residency visas have expired and who were working for cleaning companies. They were all transferred for deportation and their sponsors are summoned, whether citizens or companies, for questioning in order to take legal measures against them in the event their involvement is proven.

A source in the PAM spoke to the daily, and pointed out that these type of workers entered the country through recruitment agencies, and then fled to work with illegal domestic workers’ employment gangs, thinking that they would make more money.

The source said that before the coronavirus pandemic, inspection teams used to arrest women working in salons, cafes, or restaurants who were on domestic workers’ residency permits, but due to the suspension of businesses as a measure against the coronavirus crisis, most of them began working in homes or companies to earn money.

PAM in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior arrested a total of 40 violators after complaints were filed due to illegal advertisements offering the services of domestic workers, the source from PAM pointed out.

The Assistant Undersecretary of the Public Authority for Manpower, Dr. Mubarak Al Azmi, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, prohibits the advertisement for domestic workers’ services.

The source also affirmed that despite the advertisements for services of domestic worker and other items are illegal violations. He mentioned that people publish ads from other countries to appear in Kuwait, which is being followed up to halt all advertisements.

Kuwait issued a travel ban on 31 countries where the coronavirus risk is high, forcing many domestic workers to be stranded abroad and unable to return to Kuwait, as the majority of domestic workers are from India, Philippines, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, which are countries listed on the travel ban, except Ethiopia.

In a statement to Al Qabas, head of the Federation of Domestic Workers Office, Khaled Al Dakhan, said that it is necessary to allow domestic workers to return to Kuwait. He suggested that they quarantine upon their arrival and carry a PCR certificate proving that they are free of any illness or virus. As for whether there is a link between the coronavirus crisis and an expected rise in prices, Al-Dakhnan said, “The Union is committed to what is issued by the state and also seeks to reduce prices and fight any attempts to raise them.”

Domestic workers in Kuwait

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are 660,00 domestic workers in Kuwait. Under the labor law in Kuwait, domestic workers are unable to work in the private sector as they enter Kuwait with visa No 20, which differs from visa No 18 which is for private sector workers.

Many view the plight of domestic workers in Kuwait as conditions of ‘modern day slavery’ where they often work long hours, are paid low wages and have little to no time off.

In 2015, the National Assembly passed a law granting domestic workers the right to 30 days paid leave per year, one day off per week and a maximum 12-hour working day with rest. Then in 2016, a decree by Interior Minister, Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al Sabah, stated a minimum wage of KD60 Kuwaiti dinars for domestic workers.

 

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