Kuwait seeks pact with Ethiopia to ease domestic labour shortage
Expert calls for strict enforcement of law against violators of workers’ rights
Cairo: Kuwait is planning to restart talks with Ethiopia to reach a memorandum of understanding on recruiting domestic workers to ease a shortage in the country, a specialist has disclosed.
“This step is set to open up a new market for recruit this labour to offset the severe shortage at present in Kuwait,” Bassam Al Shammari, a specialist in domestic labour, told Al Jarida newspaper.
“Several local offices are waiting for signing this memorandum between both sides to sign initial recruitment contracts known as job orders with their Ethiopian counterparts,” he added, expecting this pact to be sealed soon.
He underlined the importance of expanding the recruitment of domestic workers from several countries to Kuwait.
“Allowing recruitment of Ethiopian workers will introduce a balance into the market and resolve the current shortage in domestic labour,” Al Shammari said.
He remarked that the costs of recruiting these workers and their wages are low. “The law must be strictly applied to every violator of these workers’ rights to ensure continued recruitment without any obstacles.”
The expert also urged the Kuwaiti Public Authority of Manpower to hold mandatory training courses for its staff and recruitment offices’ owners and optional online courses for employers to educate them about proper ways to handle labour issues, especially those related to disputes.
He explained that such a move will ensure rights of all sides involved and head off recurrence of problems that previously prompted some countries to stop sending their workers to Kuwait.