Sponsors should not keep passports of employees

A government committee considering ways to improve working conditions of expatriate labourers and domestic helpers in Kuwait made a proposal yesterday that Kuwaiti sponsors should no longer keep their employees' passports, a committee official told Kuwait Times.

Kuwait has repeatedly come under criticism from international human rights bodies for allowing sponsors to retain passports of their foreign staff, saying this amounted to an infringement on their freedom of mobility.

"We discussed the issue today (Sunday). We decided that employers should not be allowed to keep passports of workers. This is against international human rights standards" the official said on condition of anonymity.

"So we have decided to make an official proposal to the ministers of interior and social affairs and labour that passports should remain with their owners" the official added.

The committee comprises representatives from the ministries of interior, justice, foreign, and social affairs and labour, in addition to Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Kuwait Labour Union.

It however proposed that guest workers and domestic helpers should then obtain a permit to be able to leave the country if they wished to keep their passports with them, the official said.

"We have discussed specific regulations regarding this matter. We have also proposed that any expatriate planning to leave should obtain an exit permit from a government body in agreement with their sponsors" added the official.

The writer is a Kuwait-based Arab journalist