SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
policy commitment to no forced labor, no modern slavery and no human trafficking and no child labor
Article (19)
It shall be prohibited to employ persons who are below the age of 15 years.
Article (20)
Subject to the approval of the ministry, it shall be allowed to employ juveniles who reached 15 years of age but did not exceed 18 years subject to the following conditions:
a- They shall not be employed in industries or professions that are, by a resolution of the Minister, classified as hazardous or harmful to their health.
b- They shall have a medical examination before the start of employment and thereafter have periodical similar examinations at intervals not exceeding six months. The Minister shall issue a resolution in which he shall determine these industries and professions, as well as procedures for and intervals of such medical examinations.
Article (21)
Juveniles shall work for maximum of six hours per day, and shall not be employed for more than four hours straight, followed by a break of not less than one hour.
They shall not be employed for overtime working hours, on weekly rest days, official holidays or at any time from 7:00 in the evening to 6:00 in the morning.
Section Four – Employment of Women
Article (22)
It is prohibited to employ women at night during the period from 10:00 at night to 7:00 in the morning. This excludes hospitals, sanatoriums, private treatment homes and establishments in respect of which a resolution by the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor shall be issued. The employer shall, in all cases referred to in this article, provide them with all security requirements as well as transportation means from and to the workplace.
The working hours during the holy month of Ramadan shall be excluded from the provisions of this Article.
Article (23)
It shall be prohibited to employ any woman in works that are hazardous, arduous or harmful to health. It shall also be prohibited to employ any woman in jobs that violate morals and that exploit her femininity in violation of public morals. No woman shall be made to work at establishments that provide services exclusively for men.
Such works and establishments shall be specified by a resolution from the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor after consultation with the Labor Affairs Consulting Committee and the competent organization.
Article (24)
A pregnant working woman shall be entitled to a paid maternity leave of 70 days, not included in her other leaves, provided that she gives birth within this period.
After the end of the maternity leave, the employer may give the working woman, at her request, an unpaid leave for a period not exceeding four months to take care of the baby.
The employer may not terminate the services of a working woman while she is on such leave or during her absence from work because of a sickness that is proved by a medical certificate that states that the sickness resulted from pregnancy or giving birth.
Article (25)
The working woman shall be allowed a two-hour break during her working hours in order to feed her baby according to such conditions as shall be set forth in the Ministry’s decision. The employer shall establish a nursery for children below the age of 4 at the place of work in the event where the number of female workers exceeds 50 or the number of workers exceeds 200.
Article (26)
A working woman shall be entitled to remuneration similar to the remuneration of a man if she performs the same kind of work.
Kuwait ratified ILO Convention No. 138 (1973) on the Minimum Age in 1999 and Convention No. 182 (1999) on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in 2000.
Act No. 38 of 1964 establishes the minimum age for admission to employment at the age of 15. However, there is no age limit for domestic workers because they are excluded from the law’s scope. A Ministerial Decree of 2004 obliges the employers of children between 14 and 18 years of age to record the child workers, as well as the type of work. Children between 15 and 18 years of age are not allowed to perform hazardous work as described or catalogued in a list of hazardous occupations which was last updated in 2010. Working children are not allowed to work for more than six hours a day.
In practice, there are serious concerns about the situation of child domestic servants and possible forced labour. It is reported that underage domestic servants from Asia have travelled on forged documents that show higher ages and are employed in Kuwait. The ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) noted in an Individual Direct Request that “according to the information available at the Office, there were credible reports of foreign women and girls having migrated to Kuwait as domestic workers who were coerced into situations of debt bondage or involuntary servitude and that Kuwait was a destination country for children trafficked primarily from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation.” Similar concerns have also been raised by reports under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Summary
The law prohibits child labour but there are serious concerns about the situation of underage domestic servants who are employed in Kuwait with forged documents that show a higher age.
Kuwait ratified Convention No. 29 (1930) on Forced Labour in 1968 and Convention No. 105 (1957) on the Abolition of Forced Labour in 1961.
The law prohibits forced labour but there is no specific anti-trafficking law. The Criminal Code is used to punish trafficking offenses. The Code also prohibits forced prostitution and prescribes imprisonment of five to seven years depending on the age of the victim. The government has recently adopted a regulation prohibiting employers in the construction and oil sectors from withholding the travel documents of their employees. However domestic servitude, which is the sector where the mass of the abuses are recorded, is not covered by this regulation.
Recruitment agents and kinship networks help Asian migrants to leave their country for a job opportunity in Kuwait and other Middle East countries. Reportedly, many migrants pay high fees for the employment opportunity they buy before reaching the destination. Such migrants are at high risk of being coerced into forced labour and indeed many become indebted peons.
In Kuwait, there are 660,000 female migrants working in domestic servitude and private cleaning services. Men usually work in construction, oil industry, transportation, public cleaning and sanitation. Migrants sometimes get a contract before leaving their country or upon arrival; nonetheless the agreed payment, working time, benefits and other employment issues are often not respected. It is also reported that many sponsors withhold the migrant's pay, passport and other documents. Female workers undertaking housekeeping and domestic services are often confined in the house's premises and may suffer abuse and sexual exploitation. In 2009 foreign embassies received more than 10,000 complaints about labour exploitation as well as physical, psychological and sexual abuse.
The sponsorship system of employment regulates the entry and employment of migrant labour. The worker's permit of employment and residence status is pegged to the employer's consent to hire the worker. Without such consent, the worker is not free to quit or must face imprisonment, fines and deportation.
Some domestic workers flee the homes where they are exploited but there is only one shelter which it is reported to have closed. Many runaway women reportedly end up victims of pimps who force them into prostitution while preventing their arrest. The sponsorship system does not provide for victim identification. A revision of the rules in 2011 allows for an investigation before deportation of the runaway but domestic services are excluded.
Reports find that Kuwait authorities do not arrest nationals for trafficking even for cases of systematic abuse and that in practice there are no arrests or convictions for trafficking. In 2010, a man that forced women into prostitution was arrested. However, cases not related to commercial sexual exploitation are treated with civil penalties such as fines.
The government promised an ILO technical assistance mission in February 2010 to replace the sponsorship system with migration regulations that comply with international standards, and said the same to the UN Human Rights Council in September. The government enacted Law No. 6 of 2010 which established a Public Authority for Labour Force but according to the CEACR, the law does not abolish the sponsorship system.
The Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF) and the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) have recently signed a memorandum of understanding aiming at promoting cooperation of the two countries’ governments, monitoring recruitment agencies, promoting a role for the unions in the protection of migrants’ rights in various ways and taking joint actions toward the respect of workers’ rights.
Summary
The sponsorship system makes migrant workers vulnerable to various forms of forced labour and exploitation. Especially in domestic services, the government fails to prevent or prosecute forced labour or to identify and protect victims of forced labour and abuse.
"No individual may be held in a state of slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in any form." This is the imperative prohibition contained in Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, substantially reaffirmed by Article 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
AUM recognizes the problem of slavery that still exists today and supports campaigns to prevent such cases. Given the transnational nature of modern slavery, it is necessary to develop "cooperation at different levels, including national and international institutions, civil society organizations and the business world". In particular, companies have a duty to "ensure that no forms of slavery or human trafficking occur in supply chains". For this strategic vision, reference is made to the principle of subsidiarity, territorial and functional, to be declined, with appropriate public and social policies, within a coordinated system of multilevel governance, from the local community to multilateral institutions, states must commit to making it work effectively. Given that crimes are committed where people live on a daily basis.
From AUM’s science fair collaboration with @kisrofficial , we hope it’s been an enlightening experience.
AUM is participating in the first Kuwait Regional Conference for Child Protection from the Social Media Risks under the patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak.
Given the news about child slavery and women in Kuwait who were deceived through social networks, it was determined that it is necessary to raise awareness in society and especially parents about the dangers of excessive use of electronic devices, in addition to the lack of supervision on the sites where children access.
AUM repudiates all kinds of existing slavery and especially in the existing in children, so it is committed with the government to find solutions to this problem.
We bid farewell to the last working day in Ramadan 🌙 with
AUM Giving Market
🎁 Our students prepared boxes for children full of love ❤️ to be donated later to charitable centers ✨
