Kuwait’s Social Affairs and Labor Minister Dr. Mohammed al-Ifasi recently announced that the government plans to abolish the sponsorship system in the country. The system requires every migrant worker to have a local employer as a sponsor in order to get a work permit. The foreign worker can’t change jobs without the sponsor’s consent. The almost-total dependence on the sponsor and lack of legal rights often leads to abuse of migrant workers.
Instead of the sponsorship system, the Ministry considers establishing a non-profit governmental authority that will be in charge of hiring and sponsoring migrant workers. The government body will bring the workers from abroad and assign them their job sector according to the needs of the Kuwaiti market. Abolishing the sponsorship system is a significant step forward. However, as Dr. Shamlan Yousef Al Eissa recently wrote, assigning a government bureaucracy over this issue will not bring an end to the abuse of migrant workers. Because the government is mired in corruption, its employees might abuse the law if it can be profitable to them.
Loading... 
September 19, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Migrant Rights and Migrant Rights. Migrant Rights said: Abolishing Kuwait’s Sponsorship System: A Step Forward? http://is.gd/3qGyq #MigrantRights [...]
September 24, 2009
Thanks for the update on the sponsorship issue – one of the most important developments this year as far as migrant workers are concerned.
September 30, 2009
Прошу прощения, ничем не могу помочь, но уверен, что Вам обязательно помогут. Не отчаивайтесь.
October 9, 2009
[...] sponsorship system in the emirate. As we’ve previously reported, the Kuwaiti government is considering abolishing the current sponsorship [...]
October 10, 2009
[...] The revised labor law is expected to be reviewed once Kuwait’s Parliament starts its new term in late October. Several representatives have already expressed their support to the planned reform, in the face of opposition from other quarters. As we’ve previously noted, abolishing the sponsorship is a welcomed step forward, but handing over the care for migrant workers to a governmental authority, also has its problems. [...]
December 5, 2009
[...] According to the Kuwait Times, the law stops short of abolishing the Sponsorship system in the emirate, which creates a total dependence of the worker on his sponsor. The HRW report, however, says that the draft of the law includes the creation of a government authority that will be the sponsor of migrant workers. In effect, this will abolish the current abusive Sponsorship system. This claim is consistent with previous reports we’ve mentioned here and here. [...]
April 2, 2010
[...] cautious. It is hard to forget that Dr. Al-Afasi announced plans to abolish the sponsorship system months ago, and yet Kuwait’s new labor law, which passed in December 2009, did not include this [...]