Kuwait to abolish ‘sponsorship’ of foreign workers

Published by rudy Date posted on September 30, 2010

MANILA, Philippines—The Kuwaiti government’s plan to scrap the “kafeel” or sponsorship system of hiring foreign laborers will mean that Filipinos and other foreigners working in the emirate will no longer be treated as indentured servants, according to the Migrante-Middle East.

The plan to abolish the kafeel was announced recently by Mohammed Al-Afasi, Kuwait’s minister for social affairs and labor.

Al-Afasi said the government would be creating in February a public authority to take charge of recruitment and deployment of migrant workers.

John Leonard Monterona, the Saudi-based Migrante-Mideast regional coordinator, said the abolition of the kafeel would “give leeway and freedom to expatriate workers in terms of travel and the opportunity to change and look for a better job within Kuwait.”
According to Monterona, the sponsorship system emanates from the old Arab social system whereby slaves are considered private property.

The employer issues the visa invitation letter to the employee who is required to work only for the original employer, called the “sponsor.” The employer then assumes full economic and legal responsibility for the foreign worker during the contract period.

Foreigners in Kuwait may not enter, work, change jobs, or leave the country without the permission of the sponsor, which may be a citizen, a company or a government official.

“In essence and in practice, the sponsorship system is indentured servitude. A person under sponsorship is a ‘bonded laborer’ who is under contract to the employer in exchange for an extension to the period of indenture, which could thereby continue indefinitely,” Monterona said. –Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer

July 2025

Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”

Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.

Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar.  Reject Military!

#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos

Time to support & empower survivors. Time to spark a global conversation. Time for #GenerationEquality to #orangetheworld!

July


3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 Ju
ly – International Plastic Bag Free Day
 
5 July –
World Youth Skills Day 
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day 
17 July – World Day for
International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons 


Monthly Observances:

Schools Safety Month

Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month

Weekly Observances:

Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week

 

Daily Observances:

First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines

Categories

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.