Kuwaiti, 8 expats sentenced to prison for human trafficking

Kuwait City: One Kuwaiti and eight Egyptian men were sentenced to prison and charged for human trafficking by the Kuwaiti criminal court, Al Rai reported.

The Kuwaiti, a company manager, and one Egyptian man were sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the other seven men were given a 10-year sentence for human trafficking.

Based on the investigation, the accused were referred to the court by the prosecution for bringing in workers to Kuwait and misleading them about their jobs.

It was revealed that the accused brought in the workers into Kuwait under the company that the manager worked for, held their passports and hired them under false pretences. The workers were found to be given 150 Kuwaiti dinars in wages and were charged for paying their own work contacts.

Under Kuwait labour law, it is illegal to withhold passports, pay under a certain minimum wage (based on the job) and force workers to pay for their own contracts while working for another company.