Kuwait: The black market for household products has increased due to the continued closure of recruitment agencies, Al Qabsa reported.
Due to the closure of the recruitment agencies, agents have provided domestic employees illegally and at a maximum price, taking advantage of the lack of competition.
These agents announced to the domestic employee for 25 Kuwaiti dinars per hour and 250 Kuwaiti dinars per month.
The domestic painter receives 10 Kuwaiti dinars for 4 hours of paintings and 15 Kuwaiti dinars pass to the corridor, a fountain told Al Qabas.
The source added that the Department of Residential Affairs, in coordination with the Public Work Authority, has sized many networks of illegal domestic staff and found that 90% of domestic staff had expired permits.
There is no indication of who runs these networks of illegal domestic workers.
The investigation revealed that people with expired entry permits had won notices of absence that were opposed to them through their employers before the COVID-19 crisis or were applying for cleaning corporations and their visas were overdue.
According to the source, they are waiting to be evicted and their sponsors, corporations or individuals have been contacted to investigate their participation in the operation.
A public labour authority source noted that domestic staff entered Kuwait through recruitment agencies and then left their jobs, thinking they could make more money working for employers instead of just one.
Advertising services for workers
Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, inspection groups visited living rooms, restaurants and cafes to find out if those who painted in the institutions had a domestic paint permit.Due to the proximity of these institutions due to the pandemic, many began painting in homes and personal businesses for a living.
In coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 40 offenders were arrested after legal proceedings were brought due to advertisements by domestic workers, the Public Labour Authority added.
The Deputy Under-Secretary of the Public Labour Authority, Mr Mubarak Al Azmi, in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, prohibited the provision of services to domestic workers.
He added that social media and ad platforms are now free of task-classified ads, some others serve classified ads from other countries to make it look like they’re in Kuwait.
Last year, the BBC published a survey report revealing how social media platforms and programs are used to advertise the work of domestic workers.
Return of workers
As a result of the ban in 31 countries, many domestic employees are stranded abroad without being able to return to Kuwait, most of whom are from India, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, all of whom are indexed on the ban, with the exception of Ethiopia.
In a message to Al Qabas, the head of the domestic workers’ workplace, Khaled Al Dakhan, said it was mandatory to allow domestic staff to return to Kuwait and warned them to quarantine the property upon arrival and bring a PCR certificate proving that they are free of any disease or virus.
National in Kuwait
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), there are 660,000 nationals in Kuwait.
In Kuwait, domestic staff work in the personal sector when they enter Kuwait on visa 20, which differs from visa No.18, which is intended for staff in the personal sector.
International national paintings for personal households, in maximum cases without transparent work situations and excluded from the scope of labour law, as defined by the ILO.
Many use the term “modern slavery” to explain the career situations of domestic painters, as they paint long hours, receive low wages, and have little or no free time.
In 2015, the National Assembly passed a law granting nationals the right to 30 days of paid leave in accordance with the year, a day off according to the week and a maximum of 12 hours of restful painting.Then, in 2016, a decree through Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al Sabah led to the creation of a minimum wage of 60 Kuwaiti dinars for domestic use
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