Below an article written by Talal Al Ghannam, a Managing Editor at Kuwait News Agency (KUNA),and a columnist at Kuwaitimes Mr. Talal articles mostly tackles about the plights of expatriates living and working in this small yet rich country – the State of Kuwait.
Note: Reposting below articles under the permission of Mr.Tala Al Ghannam.
Good morning dear readers. In this article, I would like to be a little optimistic rather than being pessimistic in most of my previous articles. As you have noticed in my articles, I shed light on the negative aspects and bad behaviors that are happening in the country while the authorities are keeping their eyes closed about them.
There were so many issues on my list, but I thought I would give some relief from such negative thought, and try to focus a little bit on the brighter image of Kuwait.
In the humanitarian sphere, Kuwait has for long been known of its prompt assistance of stricken countries and people around the world, and has always been in the forefront among other countries offering aid to needy peoples worldwide.
Kuwait has never hesitated to extend a helping hand to disaster stricken countries, and countries hard hit by famine, floods and natural disasters.
In the human rights’ domain, Kuwait has also been known for its respect of human rights despite the presence of some mistreatment cases. Kuwait has signed a number of agreements with international human rights bodies concerned with the treatment of workers, and is doing its best to guarantee that all cases of mistreatment be brought to justice and resolved for the sake of preserving Kuwait’s image abroad.
Unfortunately, so many cases of mistreatment of domestic workers and laborers have been filed at various police stations and in courts, but have not yet been resolved due to the spread of wasta (connections) used by many sponsors.
Another thing is the bad treatment by many police personnel and inspectors who do not receive the complaint by the domestic worker or the laborers once they reach the apparatus. They tend to speak with them inhumanely and sometimes use force just because they came to seek help.
Many domestic workers become so afraid to walk near the police station fearing unprecedented apprehension. The police stations are made to help others, not to frighten them.
A friend told me that he went to a police station to file a complaint against his sponsor who is well-off. As he entered the apparatus, he was shouted at by an officer to go out without listening to his complaint just because the sponsor is well-known to the police.
On the other hand, Kuwait still welcomes foreign workers who seek to find a decent living here, as it accommodates hundreds of nationalities who resorted to it to secure their families’ futures.
One should be beholden to Kuwait for its generosity in offering work to many nationalities while not doing enough to its nationals. I hear many foreigners who blame Kuwait for not doing enough to them and I think those must be dealt with decisively.
image (c) www.alarabiya.net
My last point is that there has to be strict punishment against sponsors who mistreat their workers, delay their salaries, deprive them from the necessities such a mobile phone, a weekly dayoff and a vacation.
Those workers need someone who listens to them, be a father, brother, sister or a mother to them as they are also human beings who left their loved ones behind and came here to serve us. Don’t they deserve a nice and humane treatment? Any distraught housemaid can seriously harm one of the family members if she or he were to be mistreated as anger can lead to drastic undesirable consequences.
On the other hand, there are families who treat their maid as part of the family. She is also given the green light to discipline their kids to a certain limitation as the family has full trust in her without any harm. She would accompany them anywhere when they travel, she sits with them on the same table, gets her salary on time with an increase every now and then.
She is also taken to private clinics and treated properly rather than the health ministry’s Panadol. This type of treatment by sponsors is what we all seek and dream of having to be a reality.
Till the next article insha Allah
By Talal Al-Ghannam
[email protected]
Via :Kuwaitimes