Cairo: Kuwaiti authorities have shut down five offices operating in the recruitment of overseas domestic workers after they were found to have infringed regulations.
The closures of the offices located in the coastal governorate of Hawali came after the violations had been detected by monitoring teams from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The ministry said the main violations included failure to use electronic payment methods and ignoring the prices set for recruitment.
“This measure (closure) is part of the ministry’s efforts to consolidate transparency and justice at the market as well as guaranteeing the offices’ commitment to customer service according to the highest standards,” the ministry added in a statement.
The ministry pledged to go ahead with “intense” monitoring campaigns across the country to verify recruitment agencies’ compliance with laws and regulations to offer high-quality services.
Kuwait has recently suffered from a shortage of domestic workers partially due to a ban on labourers from the Philippines. The problem has prompted calls for opening up new markets for labour recruitment. Earlier this week, Kuwait lifted a visa ban on domestic workers from the Philippines imposed more than a year ago amid a labour dispute. Kuwait said the ban lifting came after reaching an agreement in talks to resolve the row.
In May last year, Kuwait announced suspending the issuance of all visas for Filipino workers in reaction to what it said was Philippine authorities’ failure to comply with a previous labour agreement.
In January, Kuwait set maximum fees for recruiting overseas domestic workers. Accordingly, price caps of hiring workers from Asian countries were set at KD750 (about Dh9,000), and from African countries at KD575.
