‘Human trafficking must be tackled’

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 12: The Kuwaiti Parliament should accord priority to getting the proposed anti-human trafficking law passed to put an end to the problems bedeviling the labour sector, says a Kuwaiti lawyer. Speaking to the Arab Times on Sunday, Labeed Abdal called upon the authorities to monitor companies which have been indulging in visa trafficking which has become a lucrative business for some unscrupulous firms.” “There are some anti-human trafficking laws in place but they are not being enforced. The recent labour unrest was an eye-opener and has given us a taste of things to come and that is why it is essential we no longer brush aside the problem of visa trafficking,” he affirmed.
“When exploitative companies bring in laborers and leave them at their own mercy, it spawns a number of social, criminal and security headaches. This is one of the main reasons the crime graph has been soaring for the past few years, and unless we tighten the screws on visa merchants, things will not continue to deteriorate,” he added. To a question whether visa merchants should be jailed as has been done in some Gulf countries, Abdal said that imprisonment should be the last resort and that the first and foremost measure should be imposition of huge fines on companies trading in visas followed by the cancellation of their commercial licenses and the ultimate step would be jail. Lauding the amnesty for illegals, he said that the amnesty was a move in the right direction and that the government should extend the deadline only in deserving cases, particularly those who face harassment at the hands of their greedy sponsors.
Noting that the government should establish a committee tasked with combating visa trafficking, Abdal went on to explain that the committee should be empowered to take action against those companies which are unable to give an account of their employees. Abdal went on to explain that the committee in question should ascertain the authenticity of certain projects even as some companies were allegedly hiring workers on false pretexts and that such practices should be stopped forthwith. Replying to a question on whether abrogation of the sponsorship system would help eliminating the practice of human trafficking, he said that abolition of sponsorship system should be studied at length as it has pros and cons. “I am of the view that the sponsorship system is required in certain cases.” Elaborating further, Abdal said that there are some expat businessmen, qualified professionals who are capable of sponsoring themselves. On the other hand, there are certain categories of workers for whom the sponsorship system is essential, he added without elaborating.

By Francis A. Clifford CardozoArab Times Staff

email :labeed@lalaw.com.kw

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