كلبونا جماعه

Harsh sentencing

2010-07-04T03:35:00.002+03:00

نام مظلوم و لا تنام ظالم

tiptoeing back

2010-05-25T17:26:00.002+03:00

First, I'd like to apologize for rejecting all of your comments, it was a mistake, I was planning to reject the spam only.

Nabeel received very inspiring comments and a lot of you have great words of encouragement and inspiration.

Thank you.

I don't know how to start again due to lack of motivation.

For country or humanity - I salute Nabeel

2009-10-06T11:44:00.003+03:00

2008 and 2009 were very tough years for me emotionally in my personal life. When I decided to take the role of protecting those who have suffered unjustly one way or another I knew it would be a headache and worse, a heartache. I kept myself determined somehow through many obstacles I faced. I lost my enthusiasm as I faced personal issues and thankfully just in time, I was introduced to Nabeel who is, was and will always be a god sent and an angel that surprised me and revived me just as I started to fear that angels did not exist.

Nabeel left his job to persue a more noble cause which is to help those that are in need. He went from jail to jail, to the deportation department, to hospitals and had bad encounters with police officials. He spent whatever money he made to provide people with food, shelter and plane tickets.

Nabeel lived most of his life in Kuwait and I consider him Kuwaiti more than most Kuwaitis I know. He saw how corrupt the system is here, he saw how locals mistreat labour expatriates, he saw rude police officers, he was pulled by the cops many times. That did not stop him from continuing to help people and more importantly he looked beyond the bad experiences and through humanity which is why he left Kuwait in peace with nothing but peaceful words to say about his time spent in a country that had a few uglies.

Nabeel did my country a HUGE favour through his humanitarian efforts, I consider him a true patriot. I salute you Nabeel. You will be truely missed.

Let's look beyond countries, nationalities, ethnic backgrounds and face the issue head on ... People are hurting everday .. If you listen carefully, you will hear their cries in almost every area in Kuwait.

Taking a short break

2009-09-29T09:48:00.003+03:00

I'm out of Kuwait. Therefore I have no more cases to relate to you at this time. However I do hope to have the ball running sometime in the near future.

It pains me that I'm not able to keep the fire burning in people who feel a degree of enthusiasm for this issue. It upsets me that where I could be spurring people on to action, telling them to listen to that small voice in their heads. The one that tells them - this is all there is to life so go out and do something worthwhile. If I miss a week of blog entries do people forget that this exists?

I'm not so self important to believe that is true. But we all need reminders. Have any of you guys seen that graphic online - of a man in a white disdasha reclining in a relaxed position on the heads of expat labourers? I've pondered putting that up here because I think it encapsulates in perfect cartoon form, the problem we are dealing with and the humiliation and greed behind it.

But then I would piss off so many people and get plenty of posts telling me that Kuwait is and always will be 100 percent amazing and if I don't like it , then GTFO. Ok I exaggerate probably. Either way maybe its not time yet to put that cartoon up.

Anyways - So I'm going to take a break until I actually hear of another case... till then, please please please don't let this issue die in your mind. Because once you stop thinking about it, the people depending on you are as good as dead.

Are religious groups keeping up with the problem?

2009-09-16T13:58:00.007+03:00

I'm at the end of my rope. There are no options left. No one wants to help.

Ok that's not entirely true...

One or two local charities want to help. Individuals sometimes want to help. Isolated church groups want to help and indeed are helping. Over the last few years we've seen an increase in church groups offering solutions to the hurting people in Kuwait - working with labourers, getting supplies together for the camps, in preparation for the cold wintertimes, providing options for maids.

Since I am not a Muslim, I don't know much about what's going on in Islamic religious circles. Is this a hot topic, is it being handled by Islamic charities, is it being spoken of in mosques so that devout men are more aware and concerned? People who believe that this is morally and religiously wrong should actively be going out and working to better things. If anyone has any knowledge of what's going on, please do let me know.

But you know what, credit should go to the Red Crescent. I have seen them hard at work at Al Razi hospital in the maids wards. I even stood as one of the nurses related a story of a raped maid to me and a girl from the Red Crescent. We both shook our heads in horror at what was being said. Coming from two completely different backgrounds and with different beliefs, we were still on the same page.

And don't tell me that a person has to believe in something to feel compassion for a human being. Secular society is more than able to take on this task. So where is everyone?

All over the ME - it's the same old story!

2009-09-16T13:56:00.001+03:00

Saudi police drop case vs 18 Filipinos
Philstar.com - Monday, August 24

MANILA, Philippines -- Saudi police have dropped prostitution charges against 18 Filipinos arrested inside a head quarters of a non-government organization.

Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS) is a group that assists runaway Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) in Saudi Arabia and the criminal case was against 18 KGS members and Runaways. The Filipinos were nabbed by the Saudi cultural police during a raid at a KGS safe house on Aug. 14.

Charges were dropped as case officers were able to convince the police that there is no 'prostitution' and that those apprehended are members of a legitimate organization providing relief to distressed and runaway OFWs. With the case dropped, Saudi authorities are expected to release KGS secretary general Mike Garlan and member Rustico Marcos within the day. The two KGS personnel have been imprisoned for 11 days.

Monterona said runaways Clemia Corpuz, Rosa Salazar, Amauri Meriz and Reynaldo Balagtas will all be deported while two of the five detained runaways -- Sarah Gumansing and Elvira De Guzman -- have already been released to their respective employers.

To our conservative estimate there are about nearly 26,000 undocumented and runaway Filipino workers in the Middle East mostly in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon - By Dennis Carcamo (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
____________________________

As usual this article has been edited slightly for ease of reading.

Kuwait Skyline - it was so worth it!

2009-09-07T22:41:00.000+03:00

Obviously I'm being sarcastic, but of course it shouldn't surprise anyone out there that a large segment of the population probably, at the end of the day, think it was worth it after all.

Skin deep beauty on Ugly foundations

2009-08-30T22:22:00.006+03:00

The following is an email I got from a close friend of mine. And remember that since Kuwait is gearing up, trying it's hardest to become the next 'Dubai' that all these problems are reflected in society here as well. Perhaps even more so.
_________________

"About 3 years ago I accidentally ended up spending 12 hours in transit in Dubai airport. And in that time I got to see beyond and beneath the shiny veneer that usually survives a mere hour's scrutiny...the Starbucks, the Ferrari parked up on blocks...blocks of gold revolving on a pillar...to see a little bit of the dirty underbelly of it.

I got to talk to one of the Filipino workers in depth at the airport restaurant where all the non-first class passengers were pushed through like cattle in a stall. I trudged back and forth from one end of the airport to the other, past 6 foot posters of smiling Arabs and got beyond the feeling of "there's nothing to do" to "gee, this is really empty."

I learned how to cling to my luggage trolley with the same possessiveness of a homeless man...cos 12 hours is a long time to carry your bags around.
>
And in that strange mixture of sleep deprivation, restriction (no money to go anywhere outside of the airport), and too much time to medidate on the strange apparition that is Dubai, I began to see how the shiny skyscrapers and lavish man-made creations were built on a foundation of massive exploitation, greed, and injustice. A foundation that definitely cannot and will not stand.
>
It's just a matter of time."
>
- David

A growing debt

2009-08-28T07:48:00.003+03:00

I attend a Filipino church here in Vancouver (cus my wife is Fil-Canadian) and there's a really sweet middle-aged Filipino lady that goes there. I met her about 5 years ago and she's a very unassuming lady, and nice to everyone.

However, on getting to know her I learned that before she became a Canadian citizen, she used to be a 'maid' in ... where else? - Kuwait. And as nice as this lady is, when you ask about her time there, she shuts up. She explains that she does not want to talk about her experiences in Kuwait and would rather focus on the here and now. Imagine that - A Canadian citizen.

Now I know it can't be too often that domestic helpers go on to become North American citizens ... but the Middle East doesn't just abuse its maids. Regular employees of every profession in Kuwait are having their passports illegally held, are being abused by the police, by their bosses, by the system and by the average guy walking on the streets.

And the more I get to know people who have worked in the Middle East and ended up becoming citizens in the west, the more I realise that Kuwait and other countries in the region are not just alienating 'poor, third world countries' and their people anymore. We are intentionally hurting and torturing future citizens of so-called 'first world' nations.

Not that it should matter where they are from and where they go. But Kuwait is slowly and surely accumulating a large and bloody debt. And one day it might not be the poor Filipinos, Sri Lankans, Bengalis and Indians that ask nicely, that that debt be paid.

3 maids, 3 different cases

2009-08-22T21:38:00.000+03:00

There is a Nepali maid who has been in hospital (not Al Razi) for over 3 years. They have not sent her back to Nepal because she has no one there (I'm not sure how this works legally). She seems SEVERELY depressed. She talks to no one and lays in bed throughout each day with blanket and cloth covering her face. Has to be fed apple juice through IV.

An Indonesian maid was brought in by agency, but her employer 'sold' her to his friend, who forced her to sleep with him and then forced her to have sex with 3-5 ppl a day as a prostitute. She jumped out of the window in despair. She was taken to Al Razi and then will be taken to jail. A classic case of human trafficking in Kuwait.

Sri Lankan maid, beaten by both the father and mother of the house - and apparently the children in the home as well. The lady is in Kuwait because her daughter back home is blind in one eye and she has to pay for medicine, and tremendous rains in sri lanka wiped out all her crops (she is a farmer)... she was also not fed anything in the house. She jumped - hospital - jail.

awareness of the obvious

2009-08-19T21:50:00.004+03:00

I'm out of the country right now, in Vancouver, Canada - a much needed break. I'm having a great time of course ... but I've noticed something. As an outsider, its amazing the stuff you can see so clearly, that isn't as obvious to locals.

For instance, for all its wonders, Vancouver has a few serious problems. One being that culturally, Vancouver sexualises its youth so much. Now I know we all have different opinions on sex education etc. but seriously - when I used to live here, the age of consent was 14. That means by law, your kid could have sex as early as 14 years old and if you as a parent tried to stop them, the police could actually charge YOU. Girls as early as 12 are walking around wearing next to nothing -in high school. Family skinny dipping day is an event where families bring their kids and they all get naked at the local indoor pool, with other families. Infant beauty pageants are in. Dolling up your babies in bikinis and makeup and making them strut their stuff as sexily as possible on a model ramp - is totally normal. And all of this is just skimming the surface.

And what are the results?

The biological age for puberty is actually physically changing in Vancouver society -becoming earlier and earlier. Pregnancies, babies, orphans - all over the place. In a high school in my neighbourhood they hold maternity classes where all the little 16year olds bring their babies to class and learn how to be mothers. Some of these moms are still wearing braces and have barely hit puberty. They go out clubbing and leave their kids with THEIR moms. Or else, prostitution and becoming a stripper mom are options to supporting your kid.

Oh and child molestations are a HUGE problem in Vancouver. Raping kids, and kidnappings - even murder to cover the whole thing up happens once in a while. Every few days the news announces another missing kid.

See to me, it makes sense that if you sexualise your little children, some people out there will actually SEE your child as a sex object. Imagine that!? You make your child a sex object, other ppl see your child as a sex object. Ridiculously obvious? Apparently not to Vancouverites. They pull their hair out trying to figure out why there are so many sex offenders in Vancouver. And all the while it's staring them in the face.

Do you have to be a foreigner to see this? In India, apparently its completely invisible to us, that our system of classing people according to the 'caste' system is causing so many social problems. 'Untouchables'? Marry only within your caste? Religious frenzy causing people to do stupid things like marrying dogs and snakes? A religious guru telling devoted but gullible parents that the gods have said that he must have sex with their young daughter?

All countries have something to be ashamed of. There is no point at all in trying to maintain a sort of false dignity and trying to be a country where no one admits that things are going wrong. I'll be the first to admit it - my country has some deep and dark closets where some of the most shameful and disgusting things are hidden.

But the correct response to something shameful is to face it and change it -not blindly deny it. Bring it out into the light, into the open, Drag it kicking and screaming. The truth, as they say, will set you free.

Which of course brings us to our own home - Kuwait. Do you have to be from the outside to see how OBVIOUS things are? We expats see the cause - and the effects,the problem and the results... and the links between them. And yet government, newspapers, and yes sometimes even citizens, if they actually ever think about it - are trying to figure out how society got here and how to solve the problems.

The answers, Kuwait, are right in front of you.

Shuwaikh Investigations Department

2009-08-17T06:30:00.003+03:00

Just wanted to relate what happened to me a few months ago.

As you might know, a group of us used to go to Al Razi hospital just get to know some of the maids in wards 3 and 4. These are the abuse cases. More than a few cannot move at all because they are in casts from head to toe. A few can get around only in wheelchairs.

Well a certain lady eventually opened up and wanted to file a case against her employer. Her employer had tried to brutally strangle her. Later on the mama poured hot water on her. Finally they pushed her out of a window - in any other country that would be attempted murder. This poor lady has a four year old daughter back in her home country. She came to Kuwait to be able to make money to support her child's medical bills.

I am in touch with a Kuwaiti lawyer so I asked him to take up her case. After much trouble the agency that was holding her passport agreed to hand it over to the lawyer so he could start filing the case.

Well after a while, I started getting strange calls from Arabic speaking men. They would call me and as soon as I picked up my phone they would ask who I was. Naturally this used to annoy me so I asked who they were - but they usually didn't answer. Once in a while they would say oh we are with the hospital and just want to know who you are. One day I got a call from a familiar number and it was the Kuwaiti lawyer - who was at the Shuwaikh police station. He asked me to come in.

What followed was a disturbing experience. The head of the Shuwaikh Special Investigations (I guess that's what it's called) asked me where I was from. He was a large burly man with a beard and glasses and the most arrogant look on his face. I said I was Indian and immediately he smirked. He asked for my civil id and had it photocopied. He spoke to me in Arabic and I told him I don't speak the language. He smirked again and said in Arabic (the lawyer translated for me) I know you speak Arabic - in fact I know you speak it fluently so don't try and play games with me. The look on his face was so intimidating and I said - no I swear I don't speak Arabic. He got angry and said Don't you dare lie to me. Right now I can put you in jail. I can have you sent back to India. I got a bit scared and had no idea what to do.

Well anyways he said that if I ever go to Al Razi hospital again, he would give my file to the mubahath and 'they had ways of dealing with me.' I asked him - but who will help the maids? The hospitals lie and the budgets are going into someone's pockets. He said to me - It's none of your business. It's not your country. Now get out.

So I did. And I haven't gone to Al-Razi since. In fact all I do for maids right now is sit at home and write this blog every once in a while. And I feel so useless because although people are made aware... awareness is not my ultimate aim. Change is. And change isn't happening.

For the last six months I don't know the names of any of the maids at al Razi. I don't know what nationalities are coming in and what injuries they have recieved and by whose hands. But I do know that the hospitals still cheap out on their crutches, their medicine and the time they are allowed to recover in the ward. I know only the nurses and the cleaners in the wards treat them with any dignity. I know they are forced out of their beds and into the jails where they are treated like crap and yelled at like animals. Then they spend what seems to be a criminal sentence at the deportation center - waiting to go home to the rest of their humiliating lives.

These things haven't changed and I don't need to go every week to know that.

A call to action

2009-08-12T19:46:00.004+03:00

The following story is from one of our readers:

I know of a Filipino maid living opposite me who used to come onto the balcony dirty & thin. One day, I found papers on my balcony saying 'Help me, I have been locked in this house for 2 years and 8 months. They don't give me soap to wash myself or even let me have a shower. And I only eat scraps of food."

I went to the Filipino embassy and reported this. Initially they resisted and did nothing. They told me to call other people, but I kept insisting and getting angry... so eventually they went to the house.

I can see these same people now have an Indonesian maid. The Filipino maid is now home but had to undergo an operation as she developed thyroid problems from stress. She was only skin and bones. I am glad I was able to help her and am still in contact with her. I wish I could help many more that undergo ill treatment.

I know this story is not as horrific as the ones you have published. I want to thank you for having this group to open peoples eyes.
_______________________

2nd story
Al Razi Hospital
An Indonesian girl jumped from 6th floor of a Kuwaiti owned house. The only words she can manage are "baba mu zain, mama mu zain' As she says this her eyes go very wide, almost in a scary way. I have a feeling she has lost her mind from her experiences. And why not? She has only been in Kuwait for one week!

Within two weeks of her being at the hospital, 11 new maid abuse cases are admitted to her ward. Broken bones, burns, as thin as rakes - and rape cases.
______________________________________________________________

Every so often people will write to me and tell me similar stories about what they have seen or heard in their own neighbourhoods. In fact I have had 4 or 5 people write in because they have been so crushed by their experiences. They want to help in any way they can and don't know how. So if people want to help, what is stopping them?

You know that moment during a song, a TV show, a play, a book - the emotional climax - that almost makes you feel like you can change the world? It gives you enough energy and emotion at that moment to make you think -maybe I can do something different, something better with my life. You want to go out and make a difference and be a better person, but as soon as you step out into the real world of traffic jams, angry bosses, piled up office work, nagging relatives... the wind and the heat and everything makes you think... oh it was just an emotion. It wasn't real - these things in front of me are reality. What could I possibly do to change things?

DON'T lie to yourself. You can do it! One person has changed the world on numerous occasions. The entire course of history has changed millions of times because of the actions of people who acted alone. One person - Mother Theresa - completely changed the face of poverty in Calcutta. It changed the way people felt about the poor, changed the way the poor felt about themselves. One person, Gandhi, created a completely unique nation by freeing us from British rule through non violence. I don't know of any other country in the world that has earned its freedom in this way. These are just examples from my own country - no doubt you have many for your own as well. One person changes history permanently, all the time.

In fact, if you think about it, your every action every minute, changes history permanently. Even if you decide not to do something about the maids abuse situation in Kuwait, you have decided that that is your contribution to history... and future generations will work based on your decisions and either praise or lament your decision.

And if reality is what's getting in your way from getting involved in the maids abuse situation, don't let it. Don't coast along from song to song, movie to movie - thinking that you need to feel that spark of emotion to get a fire raging. A spark reminds you of what you should be doing. It is not the fuel that drives you and it never will be. Your own human will is what will change things and if you say "I will" then you will.

If not you, then who?

So let's stop reading and do something. In the next week or so please give thought to if you want to do something to help these suffering people. And if you decide that something must be done, please share with me your email address as a comment (I will not publish it). At the very least we can get together a group of Kuwaiti Citizens who feel strongly about this and put them in the same place at the same time so they can know that other citizens care too.

God bless you guys!

Recruitment Agencies worried about Kuwait's cooperation

2009-08-09T05:21:00.003+03:00

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093236211

This article is from a while back. It describes the fact that Kuwait is thinking about taking over the overall recruitment process for foreign labour and thereby getting rid of all these individual recruitment agencies. This is because it is at the stage of the recruitment agency that a good deal of corruption takes place. Lack of filtering for age (some girls coming in are as young as 14), law (last I heard it was illegal for Indian citizens to come to Kuwait as maids), and of course ability and mental health.

The recruitment agencies however, are in an uproar about what seems to be their lessening control over the lucrative trade in human life. I am in shock that to them, profit protection is SO important that they would sink so low as to say what they did in the article.

One of their arguments is that Kuwait should not take this step to improving the recruitment process because to remove corruption would be admitting to the international community that that there corruption in the first place. God forbid any country would want to admit to their mistakes, in order to progress to a point where those mistakes are no longer made. Regardless of your political opinion - it would be like George W. Bush continuing to insist there still ARE weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as his justification for the war in Iraq when, to my knowledge, they still haven't found any. hey no, we didn't make a mistake. (Insert country here) NEVER makes mistakes.

The second reason these agencies give is that if recruitment is taken over by one company, how will you let us, the corrupt companies, improve on our own? This is such a childish, petty excuse. Another one of their excuses is that abuse only happens in 5 percent of cases - which doesn't warrant any action.

I'm sorry but where in the hell did this number come from? EVEN if this were true that means that at any given time only twenty five thousand expat workers are being abused. 25, 000 families are being ruined and destroyed and nothing should be done because we have to protect the national reputation? Never mind of course that these figures are obviously only the formally recognised complaints - and we know that the majority of these abuse cases are never even heard of.

Ridiculous bureaucracy, red tape, official nonsense, rhetoric, newspeak...

- don't help the workers, that means people will know we were abusing them
- if you make a positive change by creating this one company, you won't give us - the other companies - the opportunity to to improve.
- 25, 000 abused people doesn't warrant a change

if that's what the article actually said - would you find these people stupid?

The Dark Side of Dubai - Johann Hari

2009-08-02T11:22:00.007+03:00

To the world, Dubai is the city of One Thousand and One Arabian Lights, a Shangri-La in the Middle East insulated from the dust-storms blasting across the region. A dominating skyline, row after row of glass pyramids and hotels.

But something isn't right. The cranes have paused on the skyline, as if stuck in time. Countless buildings are half-finished, seemingly abandoned. In the vast Atlantis hotel, a giant pink castle built in 1,000 days for $1.5bn on an artificial island – rainwater is leaking from the ceilings. And the secrets of Dubai are slowly seeping out.

This is a city built from nothing in just a few decades on credit, suppression and slavery. In the mid-18th century, a small village was built here. People would dive for pearls off the coast and it soon began to accumulate a cosmopolitan population from Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and other Arab countries, all hoping to make their fortune. They named it after a local locust, the daba, who consumed everything before it.

When oil was discovered, the sheikhs faced a dilemma. They were largely illiterate nomads who spent their lives driving camels through the desert. So Sheikh Maktoum decided to use the revenues to build something that would last. A city seemed to fall from the sky in just three decades, from the 18th century to the 21st in a single generation.

Hidden in plain view
Today there are three different Dubais. Expats; Emiratis; and the foreign underclass, who built the city. You see the last kind everywhere, in dirt-caked blue uniforms, being shouted at by their superiors – but you are trained not to look. Every evening, the hundreds of thousands of young men who build Dubai are bussed from their sites to where they live, an hour out of town. They used to travel on cattle trucks, but the expats complained this was unsightly, so now they use small metal buses. Their home, Sonapur (City of Gold in Hindi) is miles and miles of identical concrete buildings housing around 300,000 men. The camps smell of sewage and sweat – the men huddle around me, eager to tell someone, anyone, what is happening to them.

Sahinal Monir is a slim 24-year-old Bangladeshi. "To get you here, they tell you Dubai is heaven." Four years ago, an employment agent arrived in his village telling the men that there was a place where they could earn 40,000 takka a month (£400) for working nine-to-five in construction. They would be given great accommodation, great food, and treated well. All they had to do was pay 220,000 takka upfront (£2,300) for the work visa – 'money easily remade in the first six months of work'. So Sahinal sold his family land, and took out a loan from the local lender, to head to this paradise.

As soon as Sahinal arrived at Dubai airport, his passport was taken from him by his construction company. He has not seen it since. He was told that he would be working 14-hour days in the desert heat. Western tourists are advised not to stay outside for even five minutes in summer, when it hits 55 degrees. His salary would be 500 dirhams a month, less than a quarter of the wage he was promised. If you don't like it, the company told him, go home. "But you have my passport, and I can't afford a ticket," he said. "Well, then you'd better get to work," they replied. It would take more than two years just to pay for the cost of getting here – and all to earn less than he did in Bangladesh.

Sahinal lives with 11 other men in a tiny concrete room cramped with bunkbeds. His belongings are piled on his bunk: three shirts, a spare pair of trousers, and a cellphone. The holes in the ground in the corner of the camp are toilets, backed up with excrement and clouds of black flies. The heat is unbearable without AC or fans. Water delivered to the camp isn't properly desalinated: it tastes of salt. "It makes us sick, but we have nothing else to drink," he says.

"For work, you have to carry 50kg bricks and blocks of cement in the worst heat imaginable. You sweat so much you can't pee, not for days or weeks. You become dizzy and sick but you aren't allowed to stop, except for an hour in the afternoon. If you take time off sick, your wages are docked, and you are trapped here even longer." Sahinal is currently working on the 67th floor of a shiny new tower. He doesn't know its name. In his four years here, he has never seen the Dubai of tourist-fame. Last year, some workers went on strike after they were not given their wages for four months. The Dubai police surrounded their camps with razor-wire and water-cannons and blasted them out and back to work."

Does Sohinal regret coming? All the men look down, awkwardly. "How can we think about that? We are trapped. If we start to think about regrets..." He lets the sentence trail off. Eventually, another worker breaks the silence by adding: "I miss my country, my family and my land. We can grow food in Bangladesh. Here, nothing grows. Just oil and buildings."

Since the recession, electricity has been cut off in dozens of the camps, and the men have not been paid for months. "We have been robbed of everything. Even if somehow we get back to Bangladesh, the loan sharks will demand we repay our loans immediately, and when we can't, we'll be sent to prison."

A British man who used to work on construction projects told me: "There's a huge number of suicides, but they're not reported. They're classed as 'accidents'." Even after death, their families simply inherit the debts. A Human Rights Watch study found there is a "cover-up of the true extent" of deaths from heat exhaustion, overwork and suicide, but the Indian consulate registered 971 deaths of their nationals in 2005 alone. After this figure was leaked, the consulates were told to stop counting.

At night, in the dusk, I sit in the camp with Sohinal and his friends as they scrape together what they have left to buy a cheap bottle of spirits. They down it in one ferocious gulp. "It helps you to feel numb", Sohinal says through a stinging throat. In the distance, the glistening Dubai skyline he built stands, oblivious.

Mauled by the mall
Malls seem to stand on every street in Dubai. People gather to bask in the air conditioning. I approach a blonde 17-year-old Dutch girl wandering around in hotpants, oblivious to the swarms of men gaping at her. "I love it here!" she says. "The heat, the malls, the beach!" Does it ever bother you that it's a slave society? She puts her head down "I try not to see," she says.

Unlike the expats and the slave class, I can't just approach the native Emiratis to ask questions when I see them wandering around – the men in cool white robes, the women in sweltering black. The men look offended, and tell you brusquely that Dubai is "fine." Ahmed al-Atar is a blogger and speaks perfect American-English, and quickly shows that he knows London, Los Angeles and Paris better than most westerners. Sitting back in his chair in Starbucks, he announces: "This is the best place in the world to be young! The government pays for your education up to PhD level. You get a free house when you get married. Free healthcare, and if it's not good enough here, they pay for you to go abroad. Almost everyone has a maid, a nanny, and a driver. And we never pay any taxes. Don't you wish you were Emirati?"

Sultan al-Qassemi, a 31-year-old Emirati columnist for the Dubai press looks angry when I bring up the slavery system. "People should give us credit," he insists. "We are the most tolerant people in the world. Everyone who comes here is treated with respect." Does he even know about the labour camps in Sonapur? He looks irritated. "You know, if there are 30 or 40 cases a year, that sounds like a lot but when you think about how many people are here..." 30 or 40? We're talking hundreds of thousands, I say. Sultan is furious. "You don't think Mexicans are treated badly in New York City? And how long did it take Britain to treat people well? I could come to London and write about the homeless people on Oxford Street and make your city sound like a terrible place, too! The workers here can leave any time they want! Any Indian can leave, any Asian can leave!"

But they can't, I point out. Their passports are taken away, and wages withheld. And why do you forbid the workers from going on strike against bad employers? "Thank God we don't allow that!" he exclaims. "Strikes are inconvenient! They go on the street – we're not having that. We won't be like France. Imagine a country where the workers can just stop whenever they want!" So what should the workers do when they are cheated and lied to? "Quit. Leave the country." I sigh. Sultan is seething now. "People in the West are always complaining about us," he says. Suddenly, he imitates his critics: "Why don't you treat animals better? Why don't you have better shampoo advertising? Why don't you treat labourers better?" It's a revealing order: animals, shampoo, then workers.

The Dunkin' Donuts Dissidents
But there is another face to the Emirati minority. Next to a Virgin Megastore and a Dunkin' Donuts, I meet Mohammed al-Mansoori. "Westerners come here and see the malls and the tall buildings." Mohammed tells me he was born in Dubai to a fisherman father who taught him one enduring lesson: Never follow the herd. Think for yourself. Horrified by the "system of slavery" his country was being built on, he spoke out to Human Rights Watch and the BBC. "So I was hauled in by the secret police and told: shut up, or you will lose you job, and your children will be unemployable," he says. "But how could I be silent?" He was stripped of his lawyer's licence and his passport – becoming yet another person imprisoned in this country. "I have been blacklisted and so have my children. The newspapers are not allowed to write about me."

Why is the state so keen to defend this system of slavery? He offers an explanation. "Most companies are owned by the government, so they oppose human rights laws because it will reduce their profit margins. It's in their interests that the workers are slaves."

The Lifestyle
One night, I go to Double Decker, a hang-out for British expats. At the entrance there is a red telephone box, and London bus-stop signs. As I enter, a girl in a short skirt collapses out of the door onto her back. A guy wearing a pirate hat helps her to her feet, dropping his beer bottle with a paralytic laugh.

I start to talk to two sun-dried women in their sixties. "You stay here for The Lifestyle," they say. Ann Wark tries to summarise it: "Here, you go out every night. You'd never do that back home. It's great. You have lots of free time. You have maids and staff so you don't have to do all that stuff. You party!" They have been in Dubai for 20 years, and explain how the city works. "You've got a hierarchy" Ann says. "It's the Emiratis at the top, then I'd say the British and other Westerners. Then I suppose it's the Filipinos, because they've got a bit more brains than the Indians. Then at the bottom you've got the Indians and all them lot."

Yet Dubai has disappointed them. Jules Taylor tells me: "If you have an accident here it's a nightmare. There was a British woman we knew who ran over an Indian guy, and she was locked up for four days! If you have a tiny bit of alcohol on your breath they're all over you. These Indians throw themselves in front of cars, because then their family has to be given blood money – you know, compensation. But the police just blame us. That poor woman."

Later, I start chatting to an Expat American who is desperate to get away from these people. She says: "All the people who couldn't succeed in their own countries end up here, and suddenly they're rich and promoted way above their abilities and bragging about how great they are. I've never met so many incompetent people in such senior positions anywhere in the world." She adds: "It's absolutely racist. Filipino girls get paid a quarter of the wages of a European doing the same job. The people who do the real work are paid next to nothing, while these incompetent managers pay themselves £40,000 a month."

The maids used to be predominantly Filipino, but with the recession, Filipinos have been judged to be too expensive, so a nice Ethiopian servant girl is the latest fashionable accessory. It is an open secret that once you hire a maid, you have absolute power over her. You take her passport – everyone does; you decide when to pay her, and when – if ever – she can take a break; and you decide who she talks to. She speaks no Arabic. She cannot escape.

In a Burger King, a Filipino girl tells me it is "terrifying" for her to wander the malls in Dubai because Filipino maids or nannies always sneak away from the family they are with and beg her for help. "They say – 'Please, I am being held prisoner, they don't let me call home, they make me work every waking hour seven days a week.' At first I would say – my God, I will tell the consulate, where are you staying? But they never know their address, and the consulate isn't interested. I avoid them now. I keep thinking about a woman who told me she hadn't eaten any fruit in four years. They think I have power because I can walk around on my own, but I'm powerless."

The only hostel for women in Dubai – a filthy private villa on the brink of being repossessed – is filled with escaped maids. Mela Matari, a 25-year-old Ethiopian woman with a drooping smile, tells me what happened to her – and thousands like her. She left her four year-old daughter at home and headed here to earn money for a better future. "But they paid me half what they promised. I was put with an Australian family with four children – Madam made me work from 6am to 1am every day, with no day off. When I pleaded for a break, they shouted: 'You came here to work, not sleep!' Madam beat me with her fists and kicked me. They wouldn't pay me: they said they'd pay me after two years. What could I do? I was terrified."

One day, after yet another beating, Mela ran out onto the streets, and asked – in broken English – to find the Ethiopian consulate. After two days, she found it, but they told her she had to get her passport back. "How could I?" she asks. She has been in this hostel for 6 months. She has spoken to her daughter twice. "I lost my country, my daughter, everything," she says.

As she says this, I remember a stray sentence I heard back at Double Decker. I asked a British woman called Hermione Frayling what the best thing about Dubai was. "Oh, the servant class!" she trilled. "You do nothing. They'll do anything!"

In the lobby of the Burj Al Arab, I start chatting to a couple from London. They have been coming to Dubai for 10 years now and love it. "You never know what you'll find here," he says. "On our last trip, at the beginning of the holiday, our window looked out on the sea. By the end, they'd built an entire island there." My patience frayed by all this excess, I find myself snapping: doesn't the slave class bother you? I hope they misunderstood me, because the woman replied: "That's what we come for! It's great, you can't do anything for yourself!" Her husband chimes in: "When you go to the toilet, they open the door, they turn on the tap – the only thing they don't do is take it out for you when you have a piss!" And they both fall about laughing.

Fake Plastic Trees
On my final night in Dubai, I stop at a Pizza Hut on my way to the airport. My mind is whirring and distracted. I ask the Filipino girl behind the counter if she likes it here. "It's OK," she says cautiously. 'Really?' I say. 'I can't stand it'. She sighs with relief and says: "This is the most terrible place! I hate it! I was here for months before I realised – everything in Dubai is fake. The trees are fake, the workers' contracts are fake, the islands are fake, the smiles are fake – even the water is fake!" But she is trapped, she says. She got into debt to come here, and she is stuck for three years: an old story now. "I think Dubai is like an mirage. It's not real. You think you have seen water in the distance, but you get close and you only get a mouthful of sand."

As she says this, another customer enters. She forces her face into the broad, empty Dubai smile and says: "And how may I help you tonight, sir?"

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Some names in this article have been changed.

The full article can be found at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html

Why we do nothing

2009-07-29T02:03:00.004+03:00

Around this time of year I like nothing better than to laze around the house and watch TV with a cold drink in my hand. Summer encourages inaction in me and I'm sure it does the same for many other people. But inaction isn't just a problem we have in the summer.

Inaction. People who do nothing. It's what I see when I go to get any official paperwork done. It's what I see when I have anything government-related I need doing. And worse, it's what I see when honestly good people tell me that they really care about the maids abuse issue in Kuwait.

But why do all of us have a culture of inaction here? Sure we know that citizens are well provided for by the government and sometimes extreme wealth encourages laziness of a sort. Even some middle class expats live a far more luxurious lifestyle here than they would back home and this makes us lazy.

But there is still a subset of the population that are naturally hard-working, motivated and skilled. And no amount of wealth should be able to deter them from action. There are Kuwaiti citizens who care deeply about the maids abuse situation in Kuwait, but the sad truth is very few have done anything to change it.

Passionate Individuals + A cause they care about = Action

Logically, that's how it should be. But what is standing in their way?

Lack of time? Sometimes daily responsibilities, work, family life take up a lot of time. But think about it - there will never be a time in your life when you don't have responsibilities. Conditions will never be just as you want them to be.

And thinking you'd like to do something but haven't the time will doom the task straight away. One hour on a weekend visiting the injured maids at Al-Razi hospital is not eating up your life.
"Don't wait, the time will never be just right" - Napolean Hill, American Author

Perhaps you are waiting for the political situation to take care of the problem? Perhaps this is a job only for the lawmakers and parliament and really what can one person do? Maybe there is a sort of fear in getting involved?

One person can save a handful of people - but that's a handful of families and whole communities when you look at it. You are being an example to your own people and to your children as well.

When it comes to getting things done we need fewer architects and more bricklayers - Colleen C. Barrett

Over the last year I have heard dear friends talk about raising awareness, starting an NGO, visiting hospitals - and a year later not one of those plans has even seen a beginning to action. Mostly due to the reasons above.

There is one more reason I think people become inactive. Disillusionment.
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Allow me to illustrate a case:

My friend Hamad (not his real name) was a big fan of English Literature in school - particularly Shakespeare. He did fairly well in school but after graduation, for want of opportunity within the country, his life began centering around all-male coffee shops, shisha and hanging out. In time, he was only hanging out with Kuwaitis, because few other nationalities frequent these coffeeshops.

Now he barely speaks English. His mates include a boy who has had to travel several times to the States to get his stomach stapled, and (no joke) someone who used to 'molest' younger boys as a teenager. Bizarre? Surreal? Completely true. Hamad and I don't talk anymore because he has become extremely conservative. When he got married he didn't want me to meet his wife. That pretty much put an end to our friendship and - at least one avenue of Kuwaiti-Expat friendship. Hamad has been in KU for 7 years, trying to become a doctor over and over again. He used to be my best friend. Now he is a victim of inaction.
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So here's my thought - people have so much to offer in Kuwait. But if it isn't the wealth that leads to inaction, then its lack of awareness. If not that, then thoughts that others will handle it, that it isn't the right time yet. And if it isn't that, it's that their own talents were shut down again and again until they really don't WANT to offer anything to society anymore. What's the point. Why try?

When you get the chance, read over the cases in this blog again. People are dying and they are dying in your neighbourhood. People are being tortured on your street. Murderers and rapists inhabit your space. It's not TV - it's real.

What is stopping you?

Please do write in and tell me your thoughts. This blog post has not just been a reflection, it's a question and I would really like to know the answers.

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. - Albert Einstein

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

My thoughts on Patriotism

2009-07-24T10:29:00.002+03:00

Whenever anyone says anything critical about Kuwait, whether it is constructive or not, there are always some Super-Patriots who mention that if expats don't like it here they can GTFO.

I've thought about that word 'Patriotism' a lot. A few years ago when I was in India, a news announcer on TV was talking about a group of Pakistanis who had been killed. And to my horror, my cousins in the room were all cheering, the sole reason for their enthusiasm being that these people had been Pakistani.

Does it mean I'm not a patriot unless I support every stupid thing that other Indians do? Does it mean I'm unpatriotic if this sort of 'patriotism' makes me angry and I become more than a little ashamed of what we have become as a people?

If so then I am not a patriot, as we view the word today.

Don't get me wrong. I love going to India. Heck, I like Indian food, Indian classical music, I think Indian girls in saris look fiiine, and I'm the first one of the dancefloor when some bhangra comes on. But I find cricket boring, I think we have the funniest english speaking accent in the world, and I can't STAND Bollywood movies. I know a lot of Kuwaitis who would fight me on that last point :D

And then I think about Kuwait. Would it make citizens feel so unpatriotic to question certain ways in which the country was headed? Do citizens feel they need to patriotically protect Kuwait's reputation from whining expats and every comment made about life here? Sure there are always some people who whine about Kuwait because that's all they're good at. But some people, Kuwaitis and expats, actually bring things up because they really want to see Kuwait do better and be the best it can be. We know the country can change for the better in order to advance in the eyes of Kuwaitis and Expats.

I'm always intrigued by phrases like "Proud to be Indian", "Proud to be Kuwaiti", "Pinoy Pride" (Philippines) etc. etc. Although it might work for some people, for me personally, a phrase like that doesn't cover the entirety of how I feel about who I am and where I'm from.

To be proud I need to have something tangible to take pride in. I'm certainly proud about a lot of things in India. But that doesn't completely blind me to the fact that there are a lot of shameful things going on in my country. Proud to be Indian might work as a nifty bumper sticker or a facebook status but it doesn't go much deeper than that. I'm equally proud to have grown up in Kuwait and had the opportunity to be a part of a multicultural environment where I've learned, amongst other positive things, to form friendships with Pakistanis. Something that is rare back in India.

Maybe you have differing views on patriotism and really 'proud to be _____' does work for you. But working on something tangible to be proud of, means so much more. Let's not let patriotism blind us to the fact that we can WORK on the negative things about our countries to create even MORE positive things to be proud of. And isn't that real patriotism?

Consider these quotes. You don't have to agree with all of them. But it's worth a think!
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"My country, right or wrong" is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying "My mother, drunk or sober."

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” - GK Chesterton

I will fight for my country, but I will not lie for her. - Zorah Neale Hurston

Patriotism, the virtue of the vicious. - Oscar Wilde

Nationalism is a silly cock crowing on his own dunghill. - Richard Aldington

If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it; for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident. - Montesquieu

He loves his country best who strives to make it best. - Robert G. Ingersoll

To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography. -George Santayana

Patriotism ... is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit. - Emma Goldman

OH MY GOD!

2009-07-20T13:49:00.001+03:00

Manila maid ‘survives’ to tell sadist employer’s torture saga

KUWAIT CITY, July 18: A Filipina household service worker employed by a Kuwaiti family sought refuge at the Philippine Embassy this weekend after allegedly suffering severe maltreatment for almost two years at the hands of her lady employer. Jenny, 41, single and a native of Alabang, Manila was sobbing in pain as she narrated to the Arab Times on Saturday the ‘burning’ torture that her lady employer allegedly did on her.

“There was no single day that she did not hurt me. She loved hurting me,” cried Jenny as she showed all the scars and fresh wounds dotting her body. She recounted that her lady employer would usually time her whenever a household task is to be done. “She wants me to finish everything fast, but I’m the only housemaid at home and she has two small kids. We’re staying in a flat with four rooms and with four bathrooms. I do all the household chores, cook, clean, baby-sit and laundry. Sometimes, due to extreme fatigue, I tend to work slowly and she would be very mad at me and the torture begins,” she stated. She narrated that her lady employer had fun torturing her by heating a knife on the stove and once it is scorching hot, she would place the hot knife on any part of the latter’s body leaving burns and blisters.

“I kept on begging her not to do it. I said, enough, enough madam, but she won’t stop until my skin is burnt and blistered. It was horrible. She looked like a devil hitting me with the hot knife. How can a normal person do that?” sobbed Jenny whose wrists, arms, left foot and back were covered with bandage to prevent burnt infection after coming from the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital for treatment. Her ears resembled like a crunchy chicharron after her lady employer burnt them with a knife. “She burned my ears, because there was a time when she called me and I wasn’t able to go to her immediately because I was doing something at the kitchen so she got angry and burned my two ears for not replying to her quickly,” she stated as tears welled in her eyes.

The lady employer also burned her hands and arms with the hot knife for not washing the dishes quickly. “She burned my legs and foot for walking slowly, she burned my nape too and she boxed me on my eye so that I cannot see things clearly,” outlined Jenny. The lady employer also did not spare Jenny’s lips. As she narrated her harrowing experience, she pointed to her blistered, flaking and discoloured burnt lips. “She also hit my back using a water hose and lashed me with the ‘oqal’ of her husband,” she stated, showing her scarred back with newly bandaged burn wounds. The ‘oqal’ is the doubled black cord generally made of tightly woven black goat-hair and sheep’s wool, that is used to secure the ‘Ghutra’ or headdress of Arab men in place.

The lady employer also cut the shoulder-length hair of Jenny leaving her almost bald. “I want to fight back but I was scared because she’s six-months pregnant and I might harm her baby so I endured all the beatings,” she pointed out. After inflicting pain on her, the lady employer would usually give her some cream to treat the burns in various parts of her body. “I really can’t understand why she’s doing that. She would even ask me to wear gloves while washing the dishes to protect my hands and give me hand moisturisers,” she stated.

Last week, the lady employer allegedly threatened to burn Jenny’s eyes and face, prompting the latter to run to the embassy for help. “I finally decided to run to the embassy for help because only God knows, I may not be able to control myself and I might be forced to fight back and I might harm her and the baby in her womb,” she stated. She called first the local manpower agency that recruited her and asked for help but the man from the agency refused to help her. “I told him, please help me, take me out from this hell, but the guy at the agency even scolded me and told me not to go to the agency or he will kick me out of the agency. I called them five times. So I decided to sneak out of the house and go to the embassy” she claimed.

Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador Ricardo Endaya disclosed that the embassy has already hired a Kuwaiti lawyer for Jenny so appropriate charges will be filed against her lady employer. “I’m still at a loss how a human being can do this to her fellow human being. I hope the Kuwaiti authorities will not close their eyes on this so that justice will be served and the employer should be castigated for committing such inhumane acts,” he stressed. “I want her to be in jail. She should pay for what she has done to me,” cried Jenny as she hopes to go back to the Philippines after getting the justice that she wants.

By Michelle Fe Santiago
Special to the Arab Times

Old News Article in Arab Times

2009-07-16T09:23:00.003+03:00

This article I believe is from last July

By Francis A. Cardozo

About 68 Filipino maids are awaiting repatriation at the Deportation Center, and many of them have spent over three months at the facility, according to one of the detainees.

In a telephonic interview, the detainee, who requested anonymity, said that a total of 20 Filipino maids were repatriated a few days ago and asked "Why are we kept here for so long? We want our embassy to send us back home at the earliest available opportunity."

Out of 68 Filipino maids, the maids said 9 belong to a local recruitment agency and gave their names as follows: Janet Balapero, Shirley Madelosu, Analin Carpew, Mabel, Irene Castro, Jocelyn Bitos and C. Gabonada.

According to the maid, a majority of Filipino detainees reportedly have passports and all that they need is plane tickets home.

She added that a majority of the 68 maids ran away from their sponsors due to "over work and maltreatment while some were implicated in false cases"

She also said that the air tickets issued to many maids have reportedly expired owing to the delay in repatriating them, even as she exhorted the embassy to take speedy measures to ensure that they are sent home within the next few days.
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as I've said before, present figures are in the hundreds and beyond...

Kuwait Police - to protect and to serve?

2009-07-12T16:43:00.006+03:00

I'm not entirely sure how a citizen experiences our Police Force. It may be that the words 'to protect and to serve' apply here like they do in some other countries. All I know is my own experience of local law enforcement has not been pleasant.

My first experience of Kuwait police was in high school, when they arrested a friend of mine for not having his civil id on him. My friend protested to the rough treatment and talk he was recieving. So before they locked him in his cell, they beat him over and over again until he had nothing left in him.

The trauma led to my friend leaving school shortly after that, unable to focus in class, and drifting from low salary job to job in Kuwait. He never went to college. He was a student at UAS. I realise that these choices are ultimately left to the individual - but you have to wonder what he could have done if things had been different.

I spent some hours in jail as well for not having my civil id on me. We (the other prisoners and I) were roughly tossed back and forth, spoken to as if we were cattle, or idiots with no understanding, denied even one phone call (I wanted to call my dad to pick up my civil id). I wonder if Citizens have to worry about civil ids and getting to make a phone call?!

My wife overheard a kafeel at al razi hospital, offering policemen a certain amount of money, to take the woman and deposit her in the desert in a dangerous part of town.

A maid who complained to the police about her employer not feeding her, and beating her badly, came to the house and beat the maid severely himself, before returning her to her employer.

My mother called the police, on witnessing two men (employers) beating and shoving an Indian maid into their car though she was crying and screaming. After three calls, they still had not come. My mother stepped in saying 'haram' but the men told her to get lost, saying they were CID (which they clearly weren't) The police never came. They had not even bothered to pretend to be interested on the phone. It was after all a hindi calling about another hindi.

But my personal, ultimate experience of Kuwait Police was last week. A woman was being transported to the airport. This elderly Indian lady had suffered broken legs, broken jaw and was unable to walk without crutches. She was supposed to get into the police jeep. So these policeman - one middle aged man and one young guy- yelled at her, laughing at her, shouting 'yalla, yalla' cursing her saying 'teez umuk' etc because.. because she couldn't get in the jeep fast enough because of her leg. The ferocity of their yelling made her try to hurry but she hit her leg hard against the side of the car. She was crying and in tears as the policemen laughed at her, then continued... 'yalla yalla'.

I was so angry that without thinking I said, perhaps louder than I should have, "why are you saying yalla yalla? She is old enough to be your mother and my mother. For what reason are you hurrying her - because she is Indian?" The younger policeman was so enraged that I answered back that he started shouting at me in that typically guttural,curled lip, arrogant jaw-lined manner that I've become so used to. He used the word hindi so many times I can't even count, but because of our lack of language skills, the talking was futile.

Vijaylakshmi (the Indian maid), explained to me later when we met at the airport before her flight, that the policemen had deliberately hit every single speed bump on the way very hard, banging aunty's leg against the back of the seat of the very cramped jeep. Over and over again, in agonising pain while they laughed and smoked cigars and compared blingy watches.
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What can we do against these 'good guys'? Because of course the entire reason for a police force is so that the good guys can prevent the bad guys from doing bad things. How insane I feel when I realise suddenly that WE are the bad guys and these law enforcement, the good guys, are here to put an end to US. And these good guys terrify me so much that when I meet cops in other countries, like in Canada and the UK, cops who actually want to help, i am terrified.

To protect and to serve? Not here. Not for us. Not even close.

The impotence of blogging

2009-07-07T10:43:00.004+03:00

Dear readers,

I wonder what words on a website can really do. There are so many eloquent, well thought out blogs out there. Some might even spur you into action - like a powerfully shot movie, or a passionately written song. They might jerk the eye full of tears, move the heart and stir emotions. But what can a blog do, really?

In the end, just walking out of a powerful movie is enough to set your emotions back to square one. Walk out of the movie into the cold night air, grab a smoke with some friends, watch the cars go by, the shops all selling their wares - and you realise that already, the magic of the moment is gone. That feeling you felt - yes, I really could do something, I could make a change - is already gone.

I wish I could keep that feeling going for you with this blog. Keep your fire burning so that no amount of walking out into 'normal' life could change your mind.

But how can I, when my posts are cleaner and more polite than my thoughts. While I state the horrible facts on here, I leave out most of my reactions and how angry I am.

It would be a mistake, when reading human rights blogs, to assume that the writer is prim, proper and professional in all aspects. People behind these sites and blogs are just like you - they get passionate, excited, upset, angry, fly off the handle, sometimes go into depression... they are human after all. Sometimes they want to swear and curse in their posts and blow off some steam, sometimes they want to be thankful to God and friends for seeing them through stuff. At the end, thorough editing makes sure that what you end up reading is mostly politically correct and not going to piss any one off too much.

But sometimes I say 'to hell with it' and let it get in - how angry and upset this all makes me. Perhaps my last post was a little angry - and maybe the next few ones will be as well. but can you blame me? No one wants to help.

Be proud of Kuwait for all its achieved - sure. But you wanna be more proud? Go out and DO something. It's YOU that is Kuwait. I mean what is Kuwait besides Kuwaitis?

We all know the truth - a movie, a song, a blog never changed anyone for very long. It just keeps you aware, gives you little bursts of emotion from time to time. It's the sitting in your room, thinking about it, measuring up your life, counting costs, wondering what this world and your life mean, feeling some degree of the suffering - that changes you.

So watch the movies and listen to the songs, and if anything you read here strikes even the littlest note inside of you, then I'm glad - but be changed by the renewing of your mind. That's where it all starts to become reality.

Thanks for all your encouragement and support.

Kisa Binti Kasili and the illusion of sophistication

2009-07-03T14:35:00.005+03:00

Indonesian maid, Kisa Binti Kasili was beaten by her 'mama', Madam Dalal. Kisa escaped through the window and stayed in hospital to recover from her injuries. She was then taken to jail as is always the case for runaways.

When her sponsor Madam Dalal heard that we were enquiring about Kisa to try and send her back home to Indonesia, she picked up Kisa from the jail. She explained to me on the phone that unless we paid the sum of 500 KD, they would make Kisa work for them again - and everything that came with that.

There was no way that I could personally meet this amount as well as the amount for her ticket. So I mentioned the story on an online facebook group concerned with maid abuse. I was hosting the group at the time. Some members on it were from very high-up Kuwaiti families. I had assumed they joined because they were concerned about the maid abuse situation in Kuwait.

I explained that we needed donations however small - for kisa and the 2 other cases we were working on at the time that needed tickets home. When the time came though, only one Kuwaiti male on the group was willing to donate, and the rest of the donations were from Asian expats. The Kuwaiti girls on the group did not even dignify me with a refusal. They just ignored my message entirely. In the end, we could only meet two people's ticket costs - Kisa and another lady. So we bought Kisa a ticket and pleaded with Madam Dalal to let Kisa fly.

Knowing she would not get the money, Madam Dalal and her husband then beat Kisa black and blue, leaving her bruised in the airport, a day earlier than her flight. Madam Dalal stole 50 KD Kisa had on her and left her with no food.

We believe Kisa eventually made her flight to Jakarta, although without any money or the luggage she came to Kuwait with. How does one look on a case like this and then truly say it was a success if the person goes home like this?
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I have Madam Dalal's number and home address with me and in anger, sometimes I think about what I could do to this criminal, who speaks so politely and diplomatically on the phone but whose bottom line is the almighty Kuwaiti Dinar.

Someone who walks around with her Swarovski crystal studded hijab and her delightfully tacky handbag. And I think about how her sophistication and class is a barefaced lie - like so many others I have come across. Because although so many of us born and raised in Kuwait are so good at primping, preening and surrounding ourselves with everything luxurious, affluent, shiny, gaudy and gleaming, talking about and comparing our newly acquired assets - cellphones, cars, sneakers, electronics and beyond... I rarely ever meet a person with such class and character that I truly admire them.

Rarely, rarely have I encountered true sophistication - the kind of class and character that puts people above all else on earth. Instead, what many of us are seeing on a day to day basis -- in the malls, on the roads, at our schools and jobs, in our families and friends... is just a shiny, pretentious, very expensive illusion funded by the blood and sweat of others and hiding something dark and ugly underneath it all.

We live in the illusion of class and sophistication.

LIfe as an expat

2009-06-30T11:30:00.006+03:00

"It must be **** being an expat.... Walking down the street feeling unsafe and unsure of how the day might go"

That's the comment one of our readers left on the last blog post. How ironic.

Yesterday, I, the Indian expat, was walking down the street with the wife after a fantastic day of bumming around old Salmiya. Marina Mall was about half a kilometer in front of us and we were intending on grabbing some cold drink to ease the heat a bit. All in all a very good mood.

Suddenly we hear a commotion to our left, on the road. A Kuwaiti teen has slammed the door of a taxi, and is jumping and prancing about gleefully. He is literally jumping and laughing as he hurls various well known arabic insults at the Pakistani Taxi driver. From what I surmise, it is obvious that the kid has not paid his taxi fare and he is mocking the taxi driver, humiliating him in public. The taxi driver gets out and yells at the boy, the boy is still laughing and literally dancing, clapping and grabbing his crotch as he mocks the taxi driver. All those famous Kuwaiti swear words about mothers and mother's anatomies are being spouted with a wide, shining smile.

A passing teen smiles as he sees the scene. He asks the other boy what's happening and then they both end up laughing as if this is the funniest thing in the world. This smelly brown person is angry because he expects money for his work and that is frickin hi-la-rious! The first boy then goes up to the taxi driver in a threatening way, and the taxi driver leaves in a hurry.

I am standing right there with my wife, my fists clenched in anger at this mockery and humiliation.

But I'm invisible to these kids. After all, I'm just part of the servant class - the servant class that works but needs no money, and exists otherwise only to provide as amusement. Been there. Done that.

How local justice works

2009-06-28T17:05:00.006+03:00

Article in Human Rights Paper a while ago (edited for brevity)

Hasina, one of 70, 000 Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait, works from dawn to 2 a.m. Taking care of nine children, their parents and grandparents, cleaning, washing and feeding the children. She was illegally moved from one house to another --relatives and friends of her employer-- to clean and cook with not one free day. For all that work load she was supposed to get around $90 a month. Yet for over two years Hasina only received three such salaries.

Hasina was beaten repeatedly by her employer's wife. She either used a thick stick or any other heavy object at hand. The father of the family and his five sons, raped Hasina repeatedly, leading to her pregnancy. On learning of her pregnancy she was taken to the nearest police station and accused of committing adultery.

Hasina wanted to verbally defend herself, or show the officers the numerous bite marks all over her arms and back. “The police officer frowned at me and ordered me to shut up.” she later told her friend.

Hasina has been jailed and is awaiting a court ruling. She is likely to be deported. She, her husband, and family had sold most of their possessions in Bangladesh to finance the trip to Kuwait. Now they are penniless and Hasina will pay the price for being dishonoured and defiled.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Home Affairs commented on the US State Department report of 2007, “The State of Kuwait opens its arms to those incoming workers and even provides them with all available job opportunities, unlike many other countries which combat and deport them on the grounds of fighting illegal immigration”. Furthermore, Kuwait suggested that the country should be recognised for their outstanding efforts in Human Rights, rather than criticised.

Just another day

2009-06-24T13:03:00.004+03:00

From a news article:

18-year-old Sittie Leng about the three other maids in the house:
"Shouting, hitting, beating, kicking, using the wood to hit. I was scared that maybe they would hit me next. The maids had black marks all over their bodies. Our employer is like a devil and that house is like a hell - a hell house."

The four of them eventually fled together. Now Leng thinks only of going home. "I want to study nursing," she says.

When asked what she'll tell other Filipinas who think of coming to the Gulf to work, she laughs and shakes her head: "Beware," she says.
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A female friend came across a girl in the hospital who had a horrible story to tell. Apparently her local employer had invited his friends over, cornered the girl and the gang rape that followed was so animalistic that they had bitten her nipples off. There were also knife marks on her body from the episode.

Incident at the airport

2009-06-22T16:11:00.003+03:00

The next few blog posts are going to be about things we have seen and heard around Kuwait. It's not going to be good news so if you're not comfortable with how ugly the situation can get then you may not want to read this blog for the next few days.
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When my mother and her friend were getting out of their car in the Kuwait airport parking lot, they saw an Indian maid being slapped left and right by a larger Kuwaiti man. Another man was standing at a distance to make sure no one else was coming, and the first man was slapping the maid who was crying and saying in our language, "I dont want to go please let me go home". The man was forcefully pushing her into the car.

My mother and her friend started asking the men to please not beat her, saying, "haram" etc.. but the men claimed to be CID. The two ladies called the police multiple times, explaining the situation. Perhaps because of what they perceived to be an unimportant issue, the police did not arrive and the men left with the crying woman. As far as we know the maid is now back in the care of the two men that abused her.

When my mom related this story to me, it struck close to home. Hearing cries for help in your own language does something to you in a foreign land. Not being able to do anything is even worse.

Case #2: A victim up close

2009-06-15T16:55:00.007+03:00

An Indian lady was beaten by her 'mama' and not fed for days on end. She was not allowed to cook Indian food for herself because it would 'stink' and also the family would not give her any of their own leftovers, instead throwing them away in the garbage.

The victim, being an Indian Christian, would pray with her head covered in a veil as is the custom. She would receive beatings from her 'mama' because this was 'the Muslim way to pray'.

Once, on being able to contact the police to come rescue her from her imprisonment, the officer instead beat this woman before returning her to her employers. The lady - with no food and no hope of rescue, strung together blankets to escape via the 3rd floor window. It was raining - she fell almost immediately.

We saw her in Al Razi, crying because of her two daughters left back home, her dead husband and the fact that she had no salary to show for months in Kuwait and was unable to work anymore. She had broken both legs, her jawline and nose was broken as well.

When we talked to her employers on the phone, they were diplomatic, friendly, spoke English well - an 'educated' family - with combined American citizenship. They claimed they had done everything for her but she was mentally unstable and had tried to commit suicide. After talking to her for over 3 months it became clear to me that the lady was not crazy at all. She was in fact wasting away from lack of food.

When Al Razi discharged her (still unable to even walk) they did not give her crutches. There is a fund for it but Al Razi has for some reason stopped. She was simply taken to jail. How she moved even a little bit I don't know - because there was a wound on her leg that was in danger of being infected.

Below are pictures of the injuries she sustained:

Please note the teeth on this X-ray

Although she is slightly better now (we last left her painting pictures of birds and flowers), she is one of thousands employed in Kuwait who have spent their life's savings to come here, only to be broken beyond any further work, returned home unpaid and shamed for life.

Case 1: Juna Budha Thoki

2009-06-10T13:21:00.005+03:00

Dear Readers,

Below is the first case I ever had - A Nepali girl called Juna who worked as a housemaid in Rumaithiya. She was 4 pregnant with her husband's child when we met her at Al-Razi Hospital. Her husband works in India.

It is important to make the distinction that she was pregnant with her husband's child because if an Asian looking woman is walking around pregnant - guess what everyone, including the authorities, assumes straight away?
-------------------

Juna escaped from two separate sets of people - first her employers and then a couple who picked her up on the road promising to take her to her agency. Instead she was taken to their home and locked up. Juna says little about these episodes other than that all of them were ‘bad people’.

Her escape from the 3rd floor resulted in fractured spine and legs. Like most of the girls in the hospital, when we asked her what exactly happened she just said 'mama mu zain', 'baba mu zain' and we are left to fill in the blanks.

Our immediate concern was that, since Juna was pregnant - the usual trip,
1. early discharge from hospital without full healing
2. prison with squat toilets
3. deportation center with filthy conditions ...

...would be terrible for her spine and legs.

Despite our best efforts, Juna was discharged with her injuries unhealed to Rumaithiya prison because her sponsors had filed a case against her for ‘running away’. Juna suffered much spinal pain from her fracture and her pregnancy.

The police assured us that the deportation center she was going to next, was a ‘hotel’ for the maids with beds and proper facilities. But when we saw it, we were aghast at the conditions – no beds, filthy mattresses lining a wet floor, cramped with women, guarded by only men who looked at them only in one way. Some of them had been there for months – one lady even going mad and removing her clothing and walking around.

We were told that if we purchased a ticket they would let Juna fly as her passport was already in hand. With individually donated funds (we were not a charity, just some concerned ppl) we bought one and handed it in. In the mean time we visited Juna and gave a back brace for her spine - to help her painful visits to the toilet.

A day before the flight we went to the deportation center just to check on her – Imagine our shock when they told us no she would not fly. They had her passport they had the ticket we provided, all the legal work was done, but she would not fly. Why? Because they had entered her name on their list as Nuna not Juna. A clerical error was preventing her from going home. Only if her name was nuna could she go. How many more clerical errors were on that list I don't know.

When we said hey look this name is wrong, just correct it on the list so she can go home, they refused to do anything about it...Men told us to get lost, go away and not come back, they asked us who we were in relation to Juna and why we were helping. They even referred to one of our African volunteers as ‘Sudani’. Some just said ‘we are not going to help you’.

It is difficult to explain the humiliation some of us had to go through - being gestured at like animals, like slaves.

On the actual day of the flight, verbal fights occurred with our ids being asked for and the threat of deportation looming. One of our friends simply refused to budge until something was done. She yelled Haram angrily and caused a public scene. After a long time, simply out of anger and frustration at having a girl yelling in the center, they guaranteed that Juna would be sent to the airport that night at 7pm , 3 hours before her flight.

Our friend did not believe them and stayed in the deportation center from 6 onwards. At 7 – there was no movement. 8 no movement. At 9, one hour before the flight, someone arrived and Juna was transported to the airport, with a volunteer trailing the car to make sure it did not deviate.
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At the airport, Juna was on crutches as her pain had gotten very bad. We called for a wheelchair for her but the official from the deportation center, A Kuwaiti man done up in the regular white robes, said no - she must walk. We were horrified. Numerous times she was offered a wheelchair by Airport officials. A Bengali cleaner was so enraged that she was walking he offered to pay any costs to get her in a wheelchair. But the Deportation escort refused. When she sat down in one, the man motioned with his fingers – get up. He forced her to walk painfully all the way from the airport entrance to her gate.

Everyone in the airport looked on in shock as a well-to-do Kuwaiti man made a poor pregnant Nepali woman with a spinal injury go without a wheelchair because he wanted it that way and had the authority to make it happen. We pleaded with him that she was pregnant and injured, but his face only said that we were wasting his time with the whole ordeal.
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So there you have it folks. This is the most summarised version I could come up with. The amount of wastha and official nonsense we had to go through would be several paragraphs longer - at the level of hospital, jail, deportation center and two random other buildings.

Although this case took two months from start to finish, with Juna spending significant amounts of time in the deportation center... she called us recently. She is reunited with her husband and the last thing we heard was her laughing when she said goodbye and thanks.

If we had not taken a personal interest in Juna, as a person, a clerical error would have kept her here in the deportation center, to give birth, and possibly have her baby taken away on suspicion of not being her husband's. This would have been her 5th month in the deportation center.

And still there are ladies there who have had this happen and continue to live day in, day out, going mad in Kuwait's very own Guantanamo.

DO something!

2009-06-07T09:59:00.002+03:00

Sorry guys,

been away for a bit and also had an AWFUL viral flu that kept me in bed the better part of 2 weeks.

Anyways, I value all of your comments and appreciate the feedback. And you know I do have to agree with a lot of them.
...........................................................

I'm going to get really to the bare bones of this and I really hope that I don't offend anyone with being this blunt.

But I am talking specifically to my Kuwaiti readers - Dear brothers and sisters, you need to take action and take charge before it's too late. Not enough is being done about the maids or exploited labour situation by the local Kuwaiti population - the average citizen. Not nearly enough. And don't tell me that no one cares because when it comes to talking about it there are tonnes of sympathetic Kuwaiti voices that want change just as badly as we do. DO something!

We expats - we have a lot of motivation to get things going, we care for these poor ppl that look like us, talk like us and have the same passports as us. We really feel compassion for them but that's easy - they are from 'our' countries. But you know that we can't really do anything for them.

During the US Civil war, if it was all left to the blacks to fight the war against slavery, trust me the US would still be using them as slave labour. It's a horrible thing to say but the slaves needed the white man to fight on their behalf, fight in their place. Without the white man, the black man would not have become free. But today, more than ever before...

Without the Kuwaiti, the expat will continue to be treated cruelly, raped and murdered.

Do you know how stupid and worthless it seems for an Indian, no matter how well-eduated, to start wanting change in a country that isn't mine? Do you know how much power the average young citizen wields when compared to me? ONE dedicated Kuwaiti can do more than a hundred well funded and dedicated Indians. DO something!

Let me tell you about something that happened a while ago:
We used to go to Sharq mall to spread 'awareness' of the abuse issue. We'd buy brownies and coke from our own pockets and hand them out free to ppl in the mall with a little leaflet urging them to be kind to their maids. We gave them to all the Kuwaitis that came by. We got two responses that really stuck in my head:

One was a middle aged Kuwaiti man, all done up in white, just laughing to his friend who was with him- when he saw that we were giving away free food and drink, he took eight brownies and drinks, as did his friend, didn't say thank you, just left and didn't even glance at the leaflet. He just took them, laughing and going on his way. It made me so angry - why do some people want everything given to them and think they have a right to it? But I kept it all inside even though it was my own money walking away laughing at me.

The second was a Kuwaiti teenager, walking with three of his friends, loud and brash as sometimes, you know, the younger crowd can be. When they got to our table, they all quietened down and asked what it was about. We explained that it was to spread awareness for maid abuse in Kuwait and we offered them brownies and a drink. Three of were glad to know what we were doing, smiled at us, declined the food and went on their ways. The fourth one, I still remember, he looked as if his whole world had fallen apart. He was looking down, almost as if he might cry ... so much was going under the surface and I've never seen a face look like it was carrying the weight of the world - but this one was. He looked up, said 'thank you so much for doing this.' and then slowly went to join his friends.

Kuwait is FULL of citizens that want to see change, just like that guy. But wanting it is not enough. We NEED you. Perhaps you think I'm being dramatic, or I'm using flowery language or stories so that I can somehow convince you that each and every one of you needs to find a practical way to do something about this. But I am not exaggerating.

Please - DO something. It's 50 degree heat and construction workers are still out there illegally in the worst part of the day, making the roads and buildings that we will be driving on and past in our AC vehicles. Find out which company they work for - complain. Complain till you're blue in the face. Buy some cold 7up or juice and drop of a pack with them so that they have something to drink. If you see a maid being treated badly, make a complaint to the police. Call the embassy. If it doesn't work, do it again and again till it does. Start an NGO, Start a movement. There are protests for the war on Gaza, for debt cancellation. What about murder and rape here at home? Do something! Get involved!

Everyone can do something, local or expat. Everyone must.

The Deportation Center

2009-05-26T10:32:00.002+03:00

I'm not sure about this but my friends tell that there's a lawyer who comes on the Arabic TV and talks about issues in Kuwait. And apparently he talked about the deportation center being some sort of 5 star hotel and "why should Kuwait treat these dishonest, bad people so well?"

Now I don't know if my friends were exaggerating but I do know that International authorities are shown a very nice looking place that is claimed to be the deportation center. Well I've seen the deportation center myself. Let me tell you about it...

It's tucked away by the UN roundabout. We only found it after - no joke - 3 full evenings of searching. The police of various districts would not tell us where it really was, sending us all the way to Jleeb, then to Salmiya, then to different areas of Shuwaikh and back again. When we finally found it we asked a couple of ppl there, "is this the deportation center?" No - they said and gave us other areas to go to.

Why lie to us? Well that question was answered when eventually we got permission to go inside. It was horrific. Women line the entire floor. They sleep on filthy matresses on a very wet floor. There is a feel of gloom and despair in the air. This doesn't look like anything built in Kuwait - it's like a third world prison or slum. Rooms full of young women, guarded by only men? Shouldn't conservative parties in Kuwait have something to say about this? We quickly communicated with some of the women in there to get stories. Often, concerned individuals on the outside had bought tickets for some ladies inside to fly home. The LAZY officials in charge had taken the tickets and then not bothered to arrange for the ladies to be taken to the airport. We heard of at least 3 girls that had had tickets BOUGHT for them to leave but they were still there. So in this so-called deportation center, there are women who have been here for months. One had even started taking off her clothes and walking around nude because she had mentally 'lost it'.

You might ask, are the officials really like that? When I walked in, these 'officials' sat with their bare feet up on desks, smoking, drinking their tea and talking to their friends. They paid little or no attention to the timid ppl that came for their help. Indians, Bengalis, Filipinos, Sri lankans, with their heads bowed in servant like respect waited in line for these men to pause in between some hilarious joke they were making. When the officials did pause it was only to yell and shout in anger at those waiting. I was no exception. They gestured at me as if I were a dog, not even looking at me but looking directly above my head. Immediately I felt something inside I had never felt before. A true sense of shame and inferiority. Forget my education, forget my qualifications - I was a hindi, nothing more. They yelled at me, called my dark African friend a 'Sudani' etc. and humiliated us while they laughed on and finally told us to go away. I felt worse than an animal.

Later when I had time to think, I realise that this is something that even sympathetic citizens can never understand. This level of inferiority and unworthiness can only be experienced by expats even those who have served and loved Kuwait to our utmost. Even I only experienced it for a month or so while visiting the deportation center, but many expats go through this daily as labourers, in construction, as drivers, when dealing with the police.

Driving home was surreal - almost like 'Alice of Wonderland' as we passed massive beautiful government buildings, exquisitely designed villas, malls constructed to look like some fantasy escape, shiny gleaming cars of every make model and colour weaving back and forth on the road and a smart new skyline. It didn't make sense to me. How can so much achieve so little?

Well anyways, I just went home and tried to get over the feeling that I was something dirty. It takes a while, trust me. As to the deportation center - it's still there. And if you still believe that there's a 5 star hotel out there, treating these ladies with dignity, please do visit the center yourself.

The woman's role in abuse part 2

2009-05-21T09:30:00.000+03:00

I read recently that around 60% of people involved in the human trafficking industry are women. By this I don't mean the victims, I mean the culprits.

Oddly this seems to fit with what we are seeing in Kuwait. Many of the people involved in maid recruitment agencies are women. Most of the pimps who work in plain sight in Kuwait City are women. Many of those who abuse maids in the home are again women. Is it mere coincidence that Kuwait seems to agree with international figures?

See for me, as a male, it's hard to understand why a woman, who has probably already experienced gender inequality throughout her life (regardless of nationality) would then turn around and attack her fellow women. Yet this is what seems to be happening. If anybody has any clue as to why this might be, please do share your views.

So far I am running on what I believe to be partly true. Many of these 'pimps' and 'abusers' are just the victims of pimping and abuse, promoted to a higher level. Several international studies show that in the human trafficking industry many of the women in charge are those who were victims of trafficking themselves, risen through the ranks. For some reason going through a horrible situation seems to make people harder, not softer.

And when I think about it, I guess it is the same for us men. We drag each other down in spite of the fact that we should be more understanding because of our own horrible experiences. For some reason with us humans, man or woman, we tend to repeat our own histories. Even with something like parenting we can sometimes carry on the mistakes of our own parents.

So how are we to handle our own bad experiences in a way that does not cause them to multiply in the lives of others around us?

Comments

2009-05-21T00:14:00.002+03:00

Hey guys sorry about that. I just realized that none of your comments were showing up. Now it has been fixed. Again my deepest apologies.

The woman's role in abuse

2009-05-18T13:49:00.003+03:00

I have heard many complaints about how domestic helpers are not as innocent as we think they are - or that they abuse the children they are supposed to take care of, steal etc. etc.

Firstly, no one is so naive to think that ANY group is made up of completely innocent people. But you have to ask the question - if domestic helpers are also doing bad things in Kuwait, why is this happening? How come a few go completely nuts in a house that apparently treats them well?

Recently we came across a case of an Indonesian girl who was sold to a person who then sold her to his friend ... and this guy forced her to 'sleep' with 3-5 guys every day. Isn't it against the law for a maid under one kafeel, to work in more than one house, or to sell her off? But still these ladies go from house to house, working - sometimes because they want to, often because they are forced to. Can you guarantee that the girl who works in your house has not had a terrible experience in her long string of employment here, that has affected her mentally?

Here's an eye opener from religious leaders in Kuwait I have talked to... Ever since this whole so-called financial crisis, there have been more complaints in Kuwait about husbands beating their wives - MANY more. The number of maid abuse incidents has also increased. And in about 80 percent of cases we've seen, it is the mama of the house that beats the maid. Now i'm not drawing any fast conclusions but - maybe we need to think about that for a bit.

It's not always true, but often in societies, the abused becomes the abuser. The majority of sexual deviants and child molesters have at one time been sexually assaulted themselves as children. Violence works in this repetitive way also.

If the abuse of wives is not stopped, the abuse of maids will not stop, and if the abuse of maids is not stopped, the abuse of whoever the maid can abuse will not stop either. In the most horrible way, Kuwait should consider itself fortunate that these girls mostly choose suicide over murder.

So society may end up looking something like this: Domestic helpers commit suicide en mass, or alternatively, begin the abuse of those under their care. That sounds kind of familiar to me.

Now whatever you think of these ladies, no one wants a society like that. But by a community being passive and indifferent - that is what we are determining for ourselves. Kuwait of the next generation will either move closer towards this, or further away.

Didja vote?

2009-05-17T01:57:00.002+03:00

So how'd everyone's voting go? I am completely out of the loop as far as this whole thing is concerned. So who's winning?

It's here

2009-05-13T10:40:00.000+03:00

Mena is a domestic helper who came to Kuwait to support her young children back home. At her employer's home, the 'baba' throttled her, and the 'mama' poured hot water on her. Mena called her agency repeatedly, but they refused to do anything about it. Later, when Mena was cleaning the window, the 'mama' decided that she had had enough of Mena and pushed her out of the fourth floor window. Mena broke a lot of bones on impact.

Naturally, due the present state of the law, after Mena's recovery, she went to jail. These cases always really trouble me because we must be one of the few places in the world where people go to jail because no one has figured out where else to put them. She still hasn't been sent home. Her kids are still waiting for her...
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Whenever I hear something like this, I can't help but think:

"How horrible the employers are! They must be uneducated, they must live in the really 'out there' areas. If they were more educated, or more cultured, they would treat people well. There is only a small part of society that would tolerate such abuse."

I don't think that anymore

I used to give private tuition to a family's two children, in a very rich part of town. The man and woman of the house had been educated in the States, spoke perfect English and were in leadership of companies that you would almost certainly recognise. We did things that regular people do - like talk about music, exchange tips on child rearing, discuss politics, exchange DVDs.
But every week, I noticed that the two helpers they had, an Ethiopian and a Filipino, looked sad and almost never smiled. I tried to be nice but even casual conversation seemed to scare them and they always rushed back into the kitchen. I found out later that these ladies were kept under house arrest, never had a day off, were paid below normal wages and were treated very badly ... all in a modern, forward thinking person's house.

I stopped teaching their children because it seemed obscene that for four hours work, I was making more money than these ladies were in a month. At the end of the day, I am a foreigner too. If my mother had come in on a maid's visa, could I expect this man and woman with whom I laughed, to treat her any better?

Ever since then I have heard modern, forward thinking people tell me that they think domestic helpers are insane for jumping from windows. That they believe these ppl are offered a better life than they are back home and should be grateful. These are university educated, intelligent people. And yet, isn't it far more intelligent to ask the question - WHY are they jumping from windows?

The abuse isn't in the far out areas of Kuwait, it is not just among the 'less educated'. It's right here. It's in areas like Salwa, Jabriya, Shaab, Mishref, Qortoba, Nuzha or Hawally, Salmiya, Sharq ... it's here in our neighbourhoods. It's here.

Good news - finally

2009-05-12T08:40:00.001+03:00

If you've read the papers recently, then you know that Kuwait is cracking down big time on the human trafficking situation here. I just glanced at the headlines and it said that hundreds of companies and the ppl behind them have been discovered - bringing labourers into Kuwait under false premises.

This is fantastic news. But I must admit, the numbers scare me a bit. Geographically, and population wise, we're such a small country. I didn't think we had the space or manpower for so many 'slave trading' companies. The paper gave an estimate of more than 300 found. That makes it possible for thousands of lives to be ruined every year -- both workers and their families.

So I thank God for the efforts of all those in authority who are taking care of this problem. Because as we begin development and progress, we need to bear in mind that a country's image to the world is not just defined by its high rise buildings, and colourful skyline. Especially if the skyline is built on the backs of slaves.

Being modern and progressive means that our thinking also changes. Otherwise we would be nothing more than mindless, stone-age barbarians, who have discovered that fancy clothing and nice cars make us look more civilised than we are.

Numbers

2009-05-05T12:09:00.005+03:00

I've talked with people who work with abused domestic helpers in their embassies and I was able to get a rough estimate on the numbers we are dealing with:

400 maids at the Ethiopian embassy (embassy already full and now turning away runaways)
400 maids at the Indonesian Embassy
100 - 300 maids at the Philippines Embassy (it fluctuates pretty often)
300 at the Sri Lankan embassy.
I also know that Indian embassy officials dragged out a crying and pleading Indian woman from the embassy in plain sight of everyone, who was claiming abuse, and telling her that was not the place for her to go.

These numbers are obviously not accurate down to the last person - they are rough estimates. And I can tell you that these ladies are not all happy and healthy. Having personally been to the Philippines embassy myself, I was devastated to see women lined up from corner to corner in a basement room, taking up every available space.

A human being is not a number. Every single person deserves to be treated as a special, unique individual. But even when dealing with numbers, please remember that these are only runaways that make it to the embassy. There are more like these in the hospitals, in their employer's homes, in the jails and deportation centre, hiding out illegally somewhere in Kuwait, forced into prostitution and of course - in the morgue.

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-05-03T00:43:00.003+03:00

An Indonesian lady leaves home to come to Kuwait to become a domestic helper so that she can also add to the earnings of her husband and support her child. Here, she is drugged by her employer, and raped. When the girl later escapes through a window, sustaining terrible injuries, she is able (unlike many others) to file a case against him and get him arrested.

The Indonesian girl is sent to hospital to recover, where she tells visitors about the rape in gory detail, almost in a playful manner - and how badly it hurt. She refers to herself in the third person, as if the whole thing happened to someone else, and seems to laugh a lot more than all the other domestic helpers in her ward. She explains that she is no longer Muslim because she has 'slept' with another man, and how can she go back to her family like that?

JUST when she begins to slowly regain her sanity, her employer (who has already been released) comes to the hospital and threatens her. The helper is discharged, still not fully healed, and taken to jail.

Why is a victim of rape made to go through the horrors of her old employer having the freedom to taunt her, as well as having nowhere to go but jail? Right now this poor lady is lost in the system. We simply cannot find her.

Hundreds and hundreds of women go through this. They are legally only able to be in the home of their sponsors, in the hospital, at the agency or in jail. To put it in real terms, guess what rape victim - if you're a domestic helper wanting to go home - you'll have to go to prison first.

What if...

2009-04-30T10:39:00.002+03:00

What if my family hadn't come to Kuwait when they did?

What if we hadn't made as much money as we have today?

What if we were still in India and still poor?
----------------------------------------------

What if my wife's family hadn't moved from the Philippines to Canada?

What if they hadn't become Canadian citizens and had the option of being middle class?

What if they were still in the Philippines and still poor?
---------------------------------------------

Would then my own mother, sister and the woman who I would have married - have come here as nannies and housekeepers?

What if it all happened to them?
---------------------------------------------

What if Kuwait had never been liberated, and citizens had no home to go to?

What if they had to make a living in a foreign country among a foreign people?

New writer on Q8SWS

2009-04-28T22:08:00.004+03:00

Hi there blogfans, my name is nabeel. Sws has kindly invited me to share my thoughts on this blog as a new writer -- and rather than just intrude right away, I thought I'd start off by ways of a little introduction.

I'm a third generation Indian citizen in Kuwait, born and raised. I have no gift whatever for languages so I dont speak more than a few words of Arabic - or any Indian language for that matter. I went to an English school in Kuwait and did my University in Vancouver, Canada. I'm married to a great gal from there and now I'm back in Kuwait, working. ..And recently I've started involving myself in a little social work and have been utterly amazed by what I've seen.

About that - hopefully over time, I'll be updating you with reports of human rights abuses here, and my perspective on it as an expat. As I'm sure you're already aware, the Gulf region has come under a lot of scrutiny for this sort of thing. Please feel free to ask any questions, air your opinions - and mostly... please get involved.

I will start off with a report from a Nepali Humanitarian Organisation "Asha - Nepal" which is headed by a British gentleman:

"I wish we could stop these girls going. They are aware of the situation, but are pursuaded by the agencies that they will be looked after and of course the money is a huge draw.

We had a case three years ago, with Kuwait Airways carrying a seriously demented girl on a plane to Delhi in her night dress. (In Kuwait) she had been taught to offer herself to any man that came near her. The girl in question committed suicide just under a year ago. We want to write to the airline and the Kuwaiti Embassy in the UK although they aren't likely to reply. They didnt last time."

You might think this is an isolated incident, but in one of our hospitals right now is an Indonesian girl who was 'lent' by the agency to a man who forcibly slept with her and then 'sold' her to another man who forced her to sleep with 3-5 men a day. Then - like many stories you might here - she jumped.

Guess where she will go after her discharge from the hospital?! Jail. After that its the deportation center and if she's lucky enough, she will be booked a ticket home in a month or so, with only the clothes on her back and not even a month's worth of salary. But then what sort of salary do you get from forced prostitution !?

And then the real shame begins as she tries to live in her community, a rape victim and penniless.

One case in hundreds. What are your thoughts?

quote of the day and nothing to say

2008-12-24T16:00:00.001+03:00

Do good and throw it bahhar

BLAST OFF

2008-12-24T15:15:00.008+03:00

You're sinking slowly very very slowly and you do your best to paddle your way to the top only to find yourself sinking again, you look around and see all the beautiful familiar faces you know but refuse to ask for help cuz you don't want to take them down with you, so you keep paddling discreetly hoping nobody sees your struggle.

Uplifting ... I love my baby girl

You've got a friend

2008-10-24T10:27:00.008+03:00

When you're down and troubled

and you need a helping hand,

and nothing, whoa nothing is going right.

Close your eyes and think of me

and soon I will be there

to brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name,

and you know wherever I am

I'll come running, oh yeah baby

to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall,

all you got to do is call

and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You've got a friend.

If the sky above you

should turn dark and full of clouds

and that old north wind should begin to blow

Keep your head together and call my name out loud now

and soon I'll be knocking upon your door.

You just call out my name and you know where ever I am

I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer or fall

all you got to do is call

and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend?

People can be so cold.

They'll hurt you and desert you.

Well they'll take your soul if you let them.

Oh yeah, but don't you let them.

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am

I'll come running to see you again.

Oh babe, don't you know that,

Winter spring summer or fall,

Hey now, all you've got to do is call.

Lord, I'll be there, yes I will.

You've got a friend.

Ain't it good to know you've got a friend.

You've got a friend.

Thank you Meema :*

Brief from S.W.S

2008-10-15T15:05:00.003+03:00

تقرير عن مساهمة بيت الزكاة لأئمة المساجد البنغالين

‏من خلال زياراتنا الميدانية المستمرة و إستشعرانا لذو العوز و أصحاب الحالات الإنسانية، ‏إلتقينا مع شريحة كبيرة من العمالة الوافدة يتجاوز عددها 120 فرداً و التي أُغر بها من قبل ‏شركة نظافة قامت بالتعاقد معهم في بلدهم على العمل كأئمة مساجد و مأذنين في دولة الكويت ‏برواتب مجزية و قدرها 120 دينار كويتي و عليه قاموا بدفع تكاليف الإستقدام مقدمًا و ذلك ‏من خلال بيع كل ما يملكون و الإقتراض و الرهن على أن يقوموا بالسداد لاحقاً وذلك من خلال ‏عملهم في الكويت و بعد وصولهم و إنهاء جميع الإجراءات فوجئوا بتكليف الشركة لهم بالعمل ‏كعمال نظافة بأجر مقطوع لا يتعدى دينار 25 كويتي.‏و عليه و بعد التنسيق مع المنظمة الدولية للهجرة قام وفد الجمعية بزيارة الشركة المذكورة و ‏إطلاعهم على ما آلت إليه أوضاع مكفوليهم و إستنكروا ذلك و إفادوا بأنة لا يوجد لديهم عمالة، ‏وأثبتنا لهم عدم صحة إدعائهم و ذلك من خلال عرضنا لكشوفات بالإسماء و مستندات و أقوال ‏هذه العمالة و بعد المواجهة وعدوا بأن يقوموا بإنهاء هذه المشكلة في موعد أقصاه أسبوع من ‏تاريخة و لم يفوا بوعودهم، فقمنا بمراجعتهم مرة أخرى بمقر الشركة الكائن في حولي و لم ‏نجد مدير الشركة و كررنا الزيارة و بدأ مسئولين الشركة التهرب منا مرة تلو الأخرى و مأساة ‏العمالة تتفاقم يوما بعد يوم و الذين باتو بلا مأكل و لا مأوى.‏‏ لذا قررت إدارة الجمعية بوقف هذه المأساة الإنسانية ورفعها للجهات الرسمية بالدولة و ‏فقامت الجمعية على الفور بتقديم المساعدات المالية لإعانتهم على توفير المأوى المؤقت و ‏المأكل حيث أنهم كانوا يسكنون في ساحات المساجد و مواقف السيارات و في فترة الصيف ‏يعانون من شدة الحر.‏كما أخذت رئيسة الجمعية على عاتقها بزمام الأمور و قامت بمخاطبة بيت الزكاة وذلك بتاريخ ‏‏07/08/2007 مطالبة بتوفير مساعدة مالية لتلك العمالة لتأمين تكاليف عودتهم إلى بلادهم و ‏تسديد قروضهم، حيث وافق مدير عام بيت الزكاة مشكوراً على تخصيص مبلغ و قدرة ‏‏50.000 د.ك ( خمسون ألف دينار كويتي فقط لا غير) يودع في حساب الجمعية شريطة أن ‏يصرف لتلك العمالة و إفادتهم بجميع المستندات التي تثبت ذلك ، و بعد مراجعتنا لبيت الزكاة ‏فوجئنا بطلب وزارة الشئون الإجتماعية والعمل ممثلة بوكيل الوزارة من بيت الزكاة بإيداع ‏المبلغ أعلاه بصندوق الخيري للتنمية الإجتماعية العائد لوزارة الشئون بدلا من جمعية العمل ‏الإجتماعي الكويتية مثبتة بذلك المقولة التي تفيد "لا أرحمك و لا أخلي رحمة الله تنزل عليك". ‏و قد قام نائب رئيس الجمعية بطلب مقابلة السيد / وكيل وزارة للإستفسار عن هذا القرار الغير ‏مسبوق من قبل الوزارة للتدخل في ألية عمل الجمعيات بهذا النحو ورفض وكيل وزارة الشئون ‏مقابلة نائب رئيس الجمعية و عليه قام بمقابلة الوكيل المساعد لشئون القانونية وأطلعة على ‏هذا الأمر و الذي بدورة أستغرب من موقف وكيل الوزارة الغير مبرر و الذي قد يفهمة البعض ‏بأنه تواطؤ مع أصحاب شركات النظافة والمتنفذين.‏ولا يزال المبلغ حتى هذا التاريخ بصندوق الوزارة و لم ينفق على هذه العمالة المتضررة أي ‏مبلغ و بعد فترة قامت الشركة بإجراء بلاغات تغيب لتلك العمالة مدعية بعدم تواجدهم في ‏أعمالهم و هروبهم من العمل متناسية الحديث الشريف " أعطوا الأجير أجرة قبل أن يجف ‏عرقة".‏وبعد فترة تم إلقاء القبض على مجموعة منهم وأودعوا في سجن الإبعاد و قمنا بزيارتهم و ‏أعطائهم بعض المبالغ النقدية لشراء مستلزمات سفرهم و تم إبعادهم من قبل وزارة الداخلية ‏و هذه المأساة تتكرر مع العديد من العمالة الوافدة التي لا حول لها و لا قوة إلا بالله. ‏

Warm up

2008-10-14T12:28:00.004+03:00

I'm not a great writer, actually I don't enjoy writing at all but I have soooo much to say and this blog is the only way I can vent untill someone buys me and IPOD teaches me how to use Itunes and perhaps one day I can have my voice heard through podcast and I don't think that's happening anytime soon.

I haven't written for a while because I had much to say but my thoughts were scattered and I didn't know how to approach my subject so I sort of gave up, also I felt like I kept repeating the same thing over and over again. Recently, two men whom I respect very much. Rev. A and ATM asked me why I was lacking and I said I had nothing to talk about then I sensed their disappointment and that motivated me.

Yesterday, I went to the avenues for the first time ever with my daughter (hussah the great) and we played at Baroue with the other kids and their nannies. I don't like children very much and especially the ones that are out of control which was the case yesterday with all the kids, the horror!! Goodness... poor nannies, I hope they're paid enough.

A friend of mine is doing a documentary about modern slavery/human trafficking (whatever you prefer to call it) in kuwait, I wish you all the best R-watan.

Can the ministy of social affairs please find the that 50,000 kd that al zakat donated to them in order to send 200 bangalis home who came to kuwait under false pretenses and weren't paid for months. These men just want to get paid and go home. I'm posting an article in arabic about this situation in details tomorrow inshalla.

On another note: Happy Ramadan.. Happy Eid and if you drink or eat during fasting hours you will get arrested!! Now how pathetic is that?!? What about the many ppl who aren't muslims in Kuwait? What about the ones that work outdoors and need a sip of water atleast! Silly law like many other silly laws are made to be broken.

Khoda Hafiz and God Bless ..

Everyone wants a piece of the cake

2008-09-13T14:09:00.003+03:00

So apparently the strikes that happened over the summer with the Bengali workers were organized by small cleaning companies in order to break the monopoly of the bigger companies that are taking all the government contracts.

In the news:-
A kuwaiti man beats his house maid to death during ramadhan because she didn't iron his dishdasha and he was tired and angry from fasting.

I'm Tired

2008-07-28T18:21:00.003+03:00

I'm tired of the government! I'm tired of them waiting untill things get waaaay out of control for them to take action against those damn companies who haven't paid their employees for months.

I'm tired!! I'm tired of seeing the "big guys" go to their cousin's farm once a year and take pretty pictures "as a family" when they all know that his company is the worst company when it comes to the rights of it's employees. This company's contract was stopped for a while by the government and has since operated again, it shifted most of it's work to the ministry of defense because it has an independent budget.

I AM ON STRIKE TOO!!

Thank you Jassim

2008-07-27T13:10:00.001+03:00

الله كفيلك!
جاسم القامس
j.alqames@aljarida.com
مشكلة العمالة الوافدة التي نعانيها ليست وليدة اليوم أو الأمس، بل هي نتاج لنظام عبودي متخلف أنتجته قوانيننا يسمى بنظام الكفيل الذي أثبت فشله على مر السنوات من دون أي تحرك يذكر. وما يؤلم في هذا الأمر اننا نضطر إلى سماع انتقادات دولية على ملف العمالة الكويتي حتى نتحرك، وكأننا عديمو إحساس في دولة أقر دستورها بكرامة الإنسان وآدميته وتنكرت لذلك قوانينه وبعض من ممارسات أبنائه. لدينا دائماً عقدة الكويتي «المنزَّل بقفّه» كما يقول عبدالحسين عبدالرضا، فنحن الأفضل ونحن الأقوى ونحن كل شيء ببساطة، لأن جوازاتنا زرقاء يأتي معها الكثير من المميزات ومنها أن نكون منزهين. إن ما يجري من شراء للناس واستغلال حاجاتهم في الدول الفقيرة من قبل مواطنين كويتيين أمر يدعو إلى الاشمئزاز، فترى «تجار الإقامات» الذين نعرف عديدين منهم يعيشون بيننا يستغلون حاجات هؤلاء المساكين ويجعلونهم يجمعون الأموال لينعموا بحظوة المجيء إلى الكويت والعمل فيها، وكأن الكويت سويسرا، فترى عاملاً مسكيناً دفع مبالغ لا يملكها ليأتي ويعطونه «مخمة» ويأمرونه بكنس الدائري الخامس يومياً... لأن النظافة من الإيمان. هذا الوافد تسلف أموالاً في بلده من «اللي يسوى واللي ما يسوى»، وهو مطالب الآن بجمع الأموال لإرسالها إليهم وبعدها يبدأ طريق بناء مستقبله في جمع الأموال لأسرته. قالوا للمسكين ان راتبك سيكون 70 ديناراً، وبحسبة بسيطة «كسّرها» وعلم أن بعد سنة وأربع أشهر سيدفع ديونه كلها، ويبدأ طريق الكفاح الذي يبدأ كما قلنا من الدائري الخامس.
يأتي العامل إلى الكويت ليفاجأ بأن راتبه 30 ديناراً فقط، ويقولون له إن الأربعين المتبقية أخذناها منك لقاء المواصلات والسكن الذي توفره لك الشركة... «شتبي بعد؟»، تبقى الثلاثين ديناراً أفضل بكثير مما كان يحصل عليه في بلده ويرضى بنصيبه. ولا تنتهي الحكاية هنا، لأنه يفاجأ بأن الثلاثين ديناراً باتت حلماً، فتمضي الأشهر من دون أن يتسلمها، فيضطر إلى التسول بجانب إشارات المرور، إلا المسكين الذي كُلِّف بمهمة تنظيف الدائري الخامس، الذي لا يحتوي على أي إشارة!
عندما يفكر صاحبنا في أن يمارس حقه في الإضراب عن العمل الذي لا يلقى أجراً مقابله، ويتفق على ذلك مع مجموعة ممن أصابهم القدر ذاته، تُصاب محطات الوقود والقطاعات الصحية بالشلل، ونكتشف فجأة كم هم مهمون هؤلاء البنغال أو الهنود أو الفلبينيين، وتحن قلوبنا، ويخرج وكيل وزارة الشؤون ليقول إنه سيلحق عقوبات بهذه الشركات التي أتت بالمساكين وجعلتهم يكنسون الدائري الخامس من دون أن يعطوهم الثلاثين ديناراً. تصرف الشركات الرواتب المتأخرة يفرح العامل فرحاً ساذجاً لأنه تلقى 90 ديناراً نظير عمله ثلاثة أشهر من دون عمل، لتعاد الحكاية من البداية... بما فيها تصريح مسؤولي الشؤون. إن الخلل ليس في التعامل غير الإنساني لهذه الشركات فحسب، بل في النظام ككل الذي يمنح الشركة الكويتية أو المواطن الكويتي أفضلية آدمية- بقوة القانون- على العامل، فيملك الحق في حجز جواز السفر ولا يمنح العامل الفرصة بالتظلم في ظل غياب عقوبات رادعة ضد الكفيل.
والحل في نظري هو أن يتقدم صاحب العمل بطلب لوزارة الشؤون- أو أي قطاع جديد يتم استحداثه لهذا الغرض- يعلن فيه رغبته في استقدام موظف معين ولا تقبل الوزارة أو الإدارة هذا الطلب إلا بعد التأكد من وجود نقص في هذا المجال في سوق العمل الوطني، ومع ضمان ألا يتسبب استقدام هذا العامل في التأثير على سوق العمل الوطني من ناحية الراتب، مثلاً ألا تأتي الشركة بمهندس بنصف أو ربع راتب المهندس الكويتي، خصوصاً أن هناك وفرة من المهندسين الكويتيين بالمواصفات المهنية نفسها (سنوات الخبرة... إلخ) برواتب أعلى، باستثناء إن كان العامل يحمل إضافة جديدة لقطاع العمل أو مجاله، كأن يكون مهندس «فلتة» له أعمال حققت شهرة أو سمعة عالمية. وعليه، تقوم الوزارة بالموافقة ويقوم صاحب العمل بإيداع صورة من عقد العمل ويتقدم العامل لسفارة الكويت ببلاده للحصول على تأشيرة دخول بحسب مدة العقد وقابلة للتجديد، وذلك بموجب العقد وموافقة الوزارة. وفي حال نقض أحد الطرفين شروط العقد، فبإمكان الطرف الآخر التظلم لدى الوزارة لاسترداد حقه، وتسري الإجراءات ذاتها في حال رغبة العامل في الانتقال إلى عمل آخر داخل الكويت شريطة موافقة الشركة التي يعمل لديها.
ويبقى المثلب الآخر في عدم وجود حد أدنى للأجور للعمالة الوافدة ولا قوانين واضحة تحافظ على سلامتهم الجسدية أو تضع شروطاً لبيئة عمل سليمة، وهي تشريعات ضرورية، فلا يجوز أن نغفل طبيعة أجوائنا «الساحرة» في منتصف أغسطس وساعات العمل القصوى لكل عامل، وكم يتقاضى لكل ساعة عمل، وهي أمور تحفظ آدمية الإنسان قبل حقوقه في العمل.
هذا المقترح، مهما اختلفت فيه وجهات النظر، فهو ليس من نهج الخيال، بل يأتي من تجارب دول أخرى حصلت على نصيبها في المعاناة مع ملفات العمالة، وبات بعضها من الدول المجاورة كالبحرين والسعودية تخطو خطوات حثيثة لإلغاء هذا النظام، وهذه معاناة نعيشها ويعيشها العمال بشكل أبشع منذ سنوات، نتيجة عدم اكتراث الدولة مادام بقي الدائري الخامس نظيفاً ليبقى العامل ضحية كفيله وقوانين الدولة السخيفة.

http://www.aljarida.com/aljarida/Article.aspx?id=70931

Get well soon

2008-07-21T01:58:00.003+03:00

My girlfriend was in a bad car accident over the weekend. It was a hit and run, the girls took off.

I went to see her at Adan hospital, her leg is fractured, her spine is bruised and some fractures in her back bone... she was conscious and sweet and beautiful as ever when i saw her in the recovery room but in A LOT of pain.

I don't know how these girls can live with themselves.

I've always wondered if I saw an accident in front of me, would I stop to help? Do I have the gutts? My cousin recently stopped to help a guy who's car swirved suddenly and hit a side post, he was covered in blood and his legs were crushed by the dashboard. She called for help, assured him he would be okay and read some verses from the quran to calm him down. I wish I had her courage.

When you actually hit someone you don't have a choice but to stop, if not for leagal reasons .. atleast for one's own conscience.

Allah igawmech bel salamah - get well soon my beautiful friend.

Pain, in all it's form, whether physical or emotional is unbearable... 3asa allah laywareekom.

I wish everyone in pain a speedy recovery.

IDIOT

2008-07-06T11:20:00.000+03:00

Just cuz it's my blog and I can say and do as I please.

Working with dust

2008-06-18T11:40:00.003+03:00

It's terribly hot outside

What's worse

It's terribly dusty

Everyone is depressed

Everyone

Everyone's staying indoors

Everyone

Except the thousands of men that are working outdoors

كلامها عدل

2008-06-10T23:20:00.005+03:00

http://alqabas.com.kw/Final/NewspaperWebsite/NewspaperPublic/ArticlePage.aspx?ArticleID=402221

ما الاسس او القواعد التي تم على اساسها كتابة تقرير الخارجية الأميركية عن الاتجار بالبشر في الكويت؟

في الحقيقة قضية الاتجار بالبشر هي مشكلة عالمية وتعتبر تحديا بالنسبة لنا. وتواجه جميع المجتمعات حتى في الولايات المتحدة الأميركية، المشكلة تكمن في رأس المال والحاجة الاقتصادية في موضع ما من بلدان العالم يكون زهيدا ولهذا السبب ينتقل البشر من منطقة إلى اخرى، وهناك تحديات في منع استغلال هؤلاء البشر، كما ان من الحقوق التي يجب على جميع البشر ان يتمتعوا بها هي الحرية والكرامة وسيادة القانون ويجب عن التضحية بها، ومشكلة الاتجار بالاشخاص موجودة في الولايات المتحدة كما في الكويت كما في بلدان مختلفة، ما دعانا إلى التقرير ومن النقاط التي لدينا عليها ملاحظات على الكويت وهي قضية العمالة المنزلية وطريقة معاملتها، كما ان هناك بعض الملاحظات على طريقة تعايشهم كعدم وجود ملجأ لهم، ولا تدفع اجورهم الشهرية، ويعاملون على انهم هم المجرمون ولا توجد ملاحقات قانونية للمنتهكين الذين يرتكبون جرائم انسانية بحق هؤلاء البشر، نحن ضد العنف وضد ساعات العمل الطويلة ومع معاملة الضحايا بشكل اكثر انسانية ورحمة، المجتمعات الثرية في العالم دائما تعتمد على خدمات اشخاص من بلدان أخرى كالخدم، وكان لي شخصيا حديث مطول مع وزير الشؤون بدر الدويلة حول هذه القضية ولن أتطرق للتفاصيل ولكن كان لي حديث مطول لمناقشة مواضيع العمالة المنزلية وتبادلنا الاراء، انا بحكم خبرتي في الشرق الاوسط منذ 25 عاما وخلال هذه الفترة كان لدي انطباع مهم وهو ان الاسلام هو الوجه الرحيم دائما ظاهر للجميع لكن للاسف هناك غض البصر عن بعض المظاهر في معاملة العمالة المنزلية وللاسف هذه هي النظرة التي يراها الغرب عن ذلك، لذلك انا أدعو للعمل معا لكي نحل المشكلة ونعكس الصورة الصحيحة عن البلدان العربية كما اعرفها شخصيا.

حقوق الانسان
كيف تستطيع الكويت التوافق مع الولايات المتحدة في متطلباتها حول حقوق الانسان والموضوعات المالية كغسل الاموال والاتجار بالبشر؟
ــ في الحقيقة هناك مواضيع مختلفة يجب علينا ان نجعل لها تشريعات قانونية بحيث تلزم المخالف وتجبره، ويعتبر جرما يعاقب عليه، هناك مواضيع مثل حقوق الانسان والاتجار بالبشر والكويت في العام الماضي كانت مصنفة في المرتبة الثانية، حيث كانت هناك وعود بالقيام باجراءات معينة تحد من هذه المخالفات، ولكن يبدو ان هناك بعض التقصير في الاجراءات لذلك وضعت هذه الملاحظات نحن نقول بشكل عام يجب وضع تشريعات قانونية تجرم مثل تلك المخالفات

--------------------------------------

قال نائب رئيس الوزراء ووزير الخارجية الشيخ محمد الصباح: ان الكويت سترد على تقرير الخارجية الاميركية الذي يتهم الكويت بعدم اتخاذ اي اجراءات لمكافحة الاتجار بالبشر، في حين اعتبرت وزارة الشؤون ان التقرير مجحف بحق الكويت

- ناطرين الرد .. ثقتي فيك عميه خالي .. ان شاء الله الرد ما اخيب الظن و اهم شيء انشوف الافعال

Servants in the nest of a foreigner - Available at Virgin Megastore

2008-06-09T17:49:00.006+03:00

Magno presents book to envoy

KUWAIT CITY, March 5: Filipina writer Zenaida Sundiang Magno presented a copy of her first book 'Servants in the Nest of a Foreigner' to the Ambassador of Philippines to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya last week. Third Secretary and Vice Consul Rea G. Oreta was also present during the occasion.Magno spoke to the Arab Times about her writing career. She said she loves music and writing. 'I used to write in school magazines during my elementary and high schools, poems and articles about events in the campus.' She was also a singer.A pen, to her, is a friend, 'especially when I am alone.' Pen collection is a hobby for Magno. The writer was a housemaid with a Kuwaiti family for 12 years. 'I used to write at that time whenever I used to feel homesick.'About her book she said it is a fiction, 'but I have included some of my experiences, especially those related to invasion.' The book she hopes will be an inspiration for Filipino workers in Kuwait. The Filipino version of the book has already been printed, and won rave reviews from all quarters. 'This encouraged me to write the same book in English. I owe this to Sheikha Bibi Nasser Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the head of the human rights organization in Kuwait. She helped me publish this book.'It's a poignant tale that is refreshingly original. The narration has an easy air, weaving in and out of a multiplicity of issues that are social and ethical, and more than anything else profoundly human. The book is about a young Filipina maid, who comes to Kuwait and undergoes various hardships to help her family back home. 'Though a fiction, every worker who is working for his or her family's sake will be able to identify with it.'Magno feels that the problems housemaids face in Kuwait are mainly due to differences in culture and tradition, which the maids take time to get adjusted to. People coming from far off places to serve a family have to be shown compassion and mercy for a healthy living atmosphere, she adds.Filipinos, she notes, are born sensitive and are hardworking, clean, loving and patient. Most of them have a good sense of humor too. However, it is their sensitivity that makes them run away from the homes of their sponsors, when they get shouted at due to misunderstandings. Magno also thanks Chevron Overseas and the Philippine Embassy and all the servants in Kuwait who inspired her to write the book.

By Valiya S. SajjadArab Times Staff

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=13308&ccid=9

note: I don't profit from the book, i'm just supporting the author. (for the evil minds out there :P)

Facing the truth and moving on

2008-06-08T16:04:00.003+03:00

So everybody talks about political reform.. It's reform this and reform that .. I spent many hours hearing my friends speak about it, they all want to reform the country by having more liberties and freedoms. They speak of freedom of press and freedom of speech, now they worry about their right to dress as they please and their right to co-education.

They advocate for their own believes and their own rights (nothing wrong with that), but they disregard all those other people who have been and still are being opressed in our society.

Those people are the children who are abused either sexually or physically by people around them, women who are also abused in many ways from their spouses or family members, house maids and other labour expats verbally and physically abused by their employers even animals don't have it easy here, cats get burried alive, dogs get beaten to death, birds are hit with stones for fun.

Why aren't these issues our first priority for reform? Is it up to the government or the people to start reforming?

The government teases us with mixed signals, they're so good at plastering headlines in the papers with false promises about changing the labour law in order to protect the rights of labour expats, then they come up with crooked legislations that work against human rights. Was this all to get the United States off our backs?

I didn't even mention parliamentarians because the committee speaks for itself http://www.majlesalommah.net/run.asp?id=1228

I chose to believe that there was hope. After denying the bitter truth for so long (reading mixed signals), it slammed right in my face.

May 17th 2008. Election day.

2008-05-17T10:23:00.002+03:00

Vote for Freedom
Vote for Equality
Vote for Human rights
Vote for Civil Liberty
God Bless Kuwait.

Protest for not getting paid and you'll be deported

2008-05-07T17:54:00.003+03:00

Interior Ministry warns expatriates against illegal rally, crowd
Military and Security 5/3/2008 5:34:00 PM

KUWAIT, May 3 (KUNA) -- Interior Ministry on Saturday called on all Arab and foreign communities to abide by the state's law in regard to staging illegal rallies or crowd, confirming that it will deal firmly with any breach of security and law in this regard.The ministry said in a statement that it recently noted some Arab and foreign communities resorting to assembly or congregation for various reasons, a matter which is considered a breach of security and law.The ministry warned that it "will take the necessary action to apprehend the participants in such gatherings and deport anyone who instigate others to carry out an illegal rally. (end) yms.tg KUNA 031734 May 08NNNN

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1904970&Language=en&searchtext=illegal

وزارة الداخلية تهيب بالجاليات العربية والاجنبية الالتزام بالقانون
الدفاع والأمن 03/05/2008 05:04:00 م

الكويت - 3 - 5 (كونا) -- أهابت وزارة الداخلية هنا اليوم بجميع الجاليات العربية والاجنبية الالتزام بالقانون مؤكدة انها ستتعامل بحزم مع أي عمل يعد خروجا عن القانون ويخل بالامن.وقالت الوزارة في بيان انها "لاحظت في الاونة الاخيرة قيام بعض الجاليات العربية والاجنبية باللجوء الى التجمع او التجمهر لاسباب مختلفة ما يعد خروجا عن القانون واخلالا بالامن".وحذرت الوزارة من انها "ستقوم باتخاذ الاجراءات اللازمة من القبض على المشاركين في مثل هذه التجمعات ومساءلتهم قانونيا وابعاد كل من يثبت تحريضه للآخرين على القيام بها".(النهاية) ي م س كونا031704 جمت ماي 08

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1904962&Language=ar

«العمل الاجتماعي»: الوافدون يحق لهم اللجوء إلى القضاء

• بيبي الناصر06/05/2008 استغربت رئيسة جمعية العمل الاجتماعي الكويتية الشيخة بيبي الناصر تحذير وزارة الداخلية بأنها ستبعد اي وافد يثبت تحريضه على التجمهر لأي سبب، قاطعة الطريق بذلك على العديد من العمالة التي سلبت حقوقها من قبل كفلائها ولا تملك المال لاقامة الدعاوى القضائية ولا يوجد امامها سوى التجمهر السلمي امام سفاراتها او الشركات الذي تعمل لديها مطالبة بحقوقها وفقا للنظم المعمول بها في البلاد.واضافت الناصر ان الدستور الكويتي والقوانين الجزائية وقانون العمل كفلت معاملة الناس سواسية في الحقوق والواجبات، فلا تمييز بين شخص وآخر من الذين يقيمون على ارض الكويت، وان للعمالة الوافدة حق اللجوء الى القضاء واقامة الدعاوى للمطالبة بحقوقها الامر الذي ينسجم مع دعوة الدين الإسلامي الحنيف للعدل والمساواة لجميع افراد المجتمع، علما ان الكويت من الدول السباقة في الانضمام للعديد من الاتفاقات الدولية.

http://www.alqabas.com.kw/Final/NewspaperWebsite/NewspaperPublic/ArticlePage.aspx?ArticleID=390486

طاخ طيخ: في بلادي

2008-04-22T22:44:00.001+03:00

Worth reading .. Thank you Ma6goog

طاخ طيخ: في بلادي

Flavour of the month

2008-04-17T00:04:00.007+03:00

A lot of the social and political issues in Kuwait seem to be important for a month but never pull through for more than that, it sometimes extends to two months but that's about it. Even with gossip, "give it a month and people will stop talking" is the common phrase here.

Examples of issues that arose in the past for only a month:-

1. Energy preservation (tarsheed. All the ministries and roads have the lights on 24/7, it doesn't make sense)
2. Environmental awareness (going green, where do the green bags from the co-ops go after they're thrown and I don't see the commercial with the island turtles anymore as lousy as that was)
3. labour abuse (al-awqaf- their campaign was amusing, they handed out gifts like a fake pink croco bag for the family to give to their house maid to show her she's part of the family.. how about paying her monthly salary instead and preferably above minimum wage)
4. Diabetes (a bunch of doctors speaking gibberish)
5. Anti-segregation ( 4 politicians from the national democratic alliance a.k.a al ta7aluf al wa6any are still showing their enthusiasm but let's wait till after the elections)
6. Constitutional Protection (ila al destoor - came hand in hand with Nabeeha 5 then died, now the 5 is not cool .. uhhh constitution?)
7. Water Preservation (this new thing I don't know much about other than the silly number that's meant to indicate the amount of water spent per day in kuwait)

How can we forget or neglect and just let go so easily?

IT SUCKS TO BE THE FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH! ... then left to wither.

Let's hope our new parliament and government has members that will be able to pull through and not only sensationalize issues for political and economic gain.

Elections '08

2008-03-23T18:11:00.003+03:00

What is expected or hoped for from our future parliamentarians in regards to human rights issues:

1. Transfer sponsorship of foreign nationals and especially labour expats from Kuwaiti sponsor to government sponsorship.

2. Domestic labour (the ones that work in homes) should no longer be under the ministry of Interior and should be under ministry of labour and social affairs which would include them in the labour law and they don't have laws to protect them if under the ministry of interior.

3. Future MP must pressure all banks to allow mandatory bank accounts for domestic labour, they are not allowed bank accounts and therefore there is no way to know whether they get paid or not.

4. Women women and more women, equal rights with men in all issues especially housing for divorced woman and spinsters within the community and stop outcasting them by housing them in secluded projects.

more later...

From Kuwait City to the Failaka Island

2008-03-17T12:06:00.003+03:00

comic relief

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
THIS LAND IS MY LAND
FROM KUWAIT CITY
TO FAILAKA ISLAND

Al Watan TV - Murdered by the house maid

2008-03-13T14:11:00.006+03:00

Al Watan TV has a show hosted by Khaled Al-Abduljaleel, a Kuwaiti lawyer, who tackles many social issues such as divorce, rape, child abuse and so on. Last week he had two Kuwaiti families on his show that have family members murdered by their maid. A girl in her 20's and a 7 year old boy not of the same family. It was heartbreaking to see these families suffer the loss of their loved ones through a brutal murder carried by their house maid. I got a lot of calls after the program aired, the context of the calls were mostly angry people asking me to stop being so sympathetic with house maids.

I wonder sometimes, what leads a woman to murder her employers? Could she have come to Kuwait with mental problems? Or was the employer so cruel and heartless to the point where the maid retaliates by killing the most precious person in her employer's life?

I thought Mr. Al-Abduljaleel was very bias in his report, he didn't give us the other side of the story, in this case it's the maid's view (however unfathomable it is). I've seen many cases where maids do not get paid for months and when they do, they are waaay underpaid, they don't get weekly day offs, they work overtime, they have to deal with physical and emotional and verbal abuse. Most of the time, there is no way out of their situation which leads to suicide, run-aways and in some very unfortunate cases .. murder.

My heart goes out to both families.

Pathetic

2008-03-03T22:44:00.004+03:00

Manicure and Pedicure = 10 kd ... twice a month = 20 kd

Blow dry = 8 kd

Color/Highlight = 40 kd

Waxing/Threading = 5 kd ... twice a month = 10 kd

Total monthly cost = 78 kd

* 78 kd/month on self maintenance (female kuwaiti employer)

Waking up at 6 am = ?

Waking the kids up at 6:30 am = ?

Making breakfast = ?

Dropping kids off to school = ?

Tidying the beds/laundry and ironing = ?

picking up kids from school = ?

Preparing lunch = ?

running house errands all day (Get me this and that) = ?

No afternoon rest = ?

Preparing dinner (9 pm usual time) = ?

No weekly day off = ?

Total cost = 60 kd

* 60 kd/month is on average what a domestic worker in Kuwait gets paid. Throw in verbal abuse and some physical abuse and overtime and degradation. (also includes the ones that work in mansions and palaces.. hint)

What can i do to change things? ... Nothing (pitiful).

My state of mind: Sleepless nights in agony

Terrorist Imagery

2008-02-15T20:28:00.007+03:00

I never really paid much attention to their banners. I didn't know how Allah's name decorated with a machine gun "motif" escaped me!

المرأة الكويتية والإسكان

2008-02-11T22:31:00.000+03:00

بعض المشاكل التي تعاني منها المرأة الكويتية والتي اتضحت لنا من خلال احتكاك جمعية العمل الاجتماعي الكويتية بالأسر الكويتية ومنها :-

الكويتية التي لم تتزوج : وهذه قد لا تعاني من أزمة في السكن طالما والدها لا يزال على قيد الحياة ، فهي مهما امتد بها العمر ستظل تعيش في منزله معززة مكرمة ، ولكن المشكلة تظهر عند وفاة والدها خاصة إذا كان عدد الورثة كبيراً وأرادوا توزيع التركة وكان نصيبها منها لا يزيد على بضعة الاف من الدنانير لا تكفي لشراء غرفة ناهيك عن شقة ، عندئذ تجد نفسها في مأزق حقيقي ، خاصة إذا لم يكن لها إيراد ثابت ، ولا دخل لها سوى الإعانة الشهرية التي تتقاضاها من وزارة الشئون الاجتماعية والعمل كما أنه ليس من حقها الحصول على بدل إيجار .
الكويتية المتزوجة بغير كويتي : لقد شاء القدر لهذه المرأة ان تتزوج بشخص لا ينتمي إلى نفس جنسيتها ، وينشأ أولادها في الكويت ولا يعرفون بلداً غيرها وقد يمتد ذلك لعدة أجيال متوالية فحرمان المرأة في مثل هذه الحالة من الرعاية السكنية يسبب لها الكثير من المشكلات ويشعرها بعدم المساواة بينها وبين الرجل الذي يتمتع بالرعاية السكنية كاملة إذا تزوج بغير كويتية .
الكويتية الأرملة : ما يقال عن المطلقة قد ينصرف إلى بعض الأرامل خاصة إذا كان للمتوفي زوجتان إحداهما في سكن حصل عليه الزوج عن طريق الرعاية السكنية ، والأخرى تسكن في شقة وقد لمست الباحثة هذه المشكلة بشكل واضح – وهي بقاء إحدى الزوجتين بدون مسكن – أثناء انتدابها للعمل في الاستشارات النفسية بمكتب الشهيد . كما أن الأرملة التي بدون أولاد وتشترك مع إمرأة في نفس ظروفها في مسكن واحد ، يسبب لهما متاعب كثيرة مدى الحياة .
الكويتية المطلقة وهذه الحالة تشمل :
أ. المطلقة قبل ان يحصل زوجها على الرعاية السكنية : وهذا كثيراً ما يحدث إذ تشير إحصائيات الطلاق بين حديثي العهد بالزواج إلى أن آلاف الأسر تنهار والزواج لا يزال يخطو خطواته الأولى وفي هذه الحالة تعاني المطلقة ذات المعاناة التي تعانيها الكويتية التي لم تتزوج .
ب. المطلقة بعد أن حصل زوجها على الرعاية السكنية وتم تسجيل البيت باسم الزوجين ذلك أن قانون الرعاية السكنية في هذه الحالة يضطرها للعيش مع مطلقها في ذات المنزل ولو كان الطلاق بائناً ، إن هذا الوضع لا يتعارض مع تعاليم الدين الإسلامي فحسب ، بل يتعارض مع العادات والتقاليد والأعراف إذ كيف تشاركه نفس المنزل وقد أصبحت أجنبية عنه شرعاً وقانوناً؟
ج. المطلقه بعد أن حصل زوجها على الرعاية السكنية وتم تسجيل البيت باسم الزوج فقط وقد يترك الزوج في هذه الحالة مطلقته وأولادها دون مسكن ودون أن يتحرك له ضمير أو تهتز له شعره ، بعض هولاء المطلقات يحصلن على شقة في سكن أعد خصيصاً للمطلقات والأرامل ، مما يجعل هولاء النساء هدفاً سهلاً للمضايقات المستمرة من قبل ضعاف النفوس من الرجال لدرجة وصلت إلى أسوأ الأحوال في سكن المطلقات والأرامل بضاحية صباح السالم أن وضعت النساء قضباناً من الحديد على أبواب ونوافذ مساكنهن بهدف حماية أنفسهن وبناتهن الأمر الذي جعل الشقق تبدو كسجون أكثر منها مساكن .

ملاحظة : يمنح بنك التسليف والادخار المطلقة قرض اسكاني وقدرة 45 الف دينـــار عند بلوغ ابنتها الـ 30 سنة وان هذا القانون غير منصف في حق المرأة المطلقة . .

The neglected gems

2008-02-10T01:21:00.001+03:00

Did you know a woman past the age of 25 still can't get married in Kuwait without the approval of her father, if he is deceased then she would have to get approval from her brother or uncle or male cousins. She would have to file a case in court in order to get the judge to marry her.

Did you know single women in Kuwait do not have the right to own a government home, even if they were 60 years of age?

Do you think it's fair that a father can marry his daughter off without her approval and without her signature on the marriage contract. (in the Sunni community)?

These are just a few injustices that women have to face in Kuwait, there are many more. Next post.. Women's rights.

On another note:

If you employ someone and the contract says that you will be paying them 120 kd/month, you are immediately obliged to pay up. How many people don't pay their employees the amount stated on the contract? In this case I am talking about domestic labour. How can you prove the employer is not paying? Because domestic labour cannot open bank accounts, it makes it difficult to know. Let's say my nanny doesn't get paid by me, how will she be able to prove it in court? or even at the police station? Sad.

*sws is working hard to have manditory bank accounts for all domestic labourers.

I don't have a magic wand

2008-01-26T09:48:00.001+03:00

A friend of mine from highschool wrote me this email that i decided to share on my blog, I will answer him here because I have a feeling a lot of people share his views.

Here's what he had to say:-

Hey Bibi,

I just wanted to say I like your blog because it tackles humanitarian
issues in Kuwait. You've always been a good person ever since school
so when I found out that you became a humanitarian I was like wow
thats like a perfect fit.

My issue or question is this. There are a lot of things I don't like
in Kuwait and I complain about them every now and then on my blog. The
thing is thats all I can do. As a non-kuwaiti there is very very
little I can do about the working conditions of the Bengalis or
generally ANYTHING thats wrong here.

BUT, I always wish I was in a better position so I could actually do
things. For example every time I read something sad on your blog I
think to myself that if I was in your shoes I would do this or I would
try to do that. I find it hard to believe that you can't solve all
these problems. If you can't solve humanitarian problems issues in
Kuwait then who can?

I don't know if I am making much sense, I hope I didn't sound
aggressive or anything but I really love Kuwait and I find it very
frustrating to see things that are so obviously wrong and not being
able to do anything about it and then find out that the only person I
would expect to be able to do things about it can't do anything
either. It sounds like a helpless cause which is depressing.

Here's what I have to say:-

S.W.S, the organization that I work at does a lot of work with helping people, I don't usually write about what we've accomplished as an organization because in the end we were able to challenge and defeat all obstacles within our limits and without breaking the law or interfering in the work of the officials.

Kuwait is suppose to be "dawlat Mo'asasat" and I don't even know how to translate that, but the idea is, I up on my "high horse" as some may see me, cannot interfere, change or impose on any ministry official's work and I have to go through the process like everyone else in this country. Some might say, but your grandpa is the amir and your uncle is the deputy prime minister and all the rest are close relatives as well, why can't you pass the message to them to do something? Trust me, everytime I get a chance to speak with any of them on the issues I face, I don't hesistate to jump on the opportunity, but we all have to understand that they are very busy people dealing with many other, as important, isssues.

Also, they usually refer me to the officials at the ministries that I would have dealt with without even going to them, because that's how the system works (just a very few cases with babies in prison that the amir had to be directly involved and take action, god bless him), I can't just say i'm facing a problem here and there and then I get a scroll with the emir's signature and all is fine and dandy, No. There is a process, there are different documents and paper works and all the stuff we hate to do, but it must be done. So I end up going through the bureaucratic system just like everyone else, no magic wand here people.

In many occasions I was kicked out of offices especially in Al-Shu'oon..Yet because I want to make a difference I still hold my head up high and accept the system, hoping through complaints and shedding light on the issues, the system could improve. It could get depressing when you feel like you've hit a dead end but it's all too satisfying when you do actually make a difference.

Blah, because when you're numb, nothing makes sense

2008-01-22T00:39:00.000+03:00

What I am feeling is Blah
What I was thinking was Blah
What I am saying is Blah
What I long for is Blah
What has been done to me is Blah
What I have to do is to Forgive

Abused by a junkie

2008-01-19T01:57:00.000+03:00

I'm sure a lot of people have family members or know of people who have family members that are drug addicts. The burden of a drug addict is extremely hard, its emotionally draining to deal with a junkie, i've heard horror stories, the latest is of an abusive junkie, who pulled a gun out on family member, he put the gun to her head then laughed hysterically when she trembled with fear, she said she couldn't hear anything but his husky voice and the sound of her heart beating real fast, he then proceeded to fire two shots in the air to scare her even more, she says the sound was so loud she felt like it shattered her bones, she was paralyzed from fear and tried to walk away but he had a tight grip on her arm telling her that he's taken a little too much drugs and threatened if she would tell anyone he would hunt her down. She was let go when the attacker's friend showed up and calmed him down.

It's not easy dealing with the pain of losing a family member to drugs but it gets worse when the drug addict becomes an abuser. If she calls the authorities on him, she will be shaming her family and her name will be plastered all over the news, her family might even view her as a traitor or even worse her brothers might take revenge on him and in the end everyone gets hurt... but if the drug addict family member hurts or kills anyone... she won't be able to live with herself knowing she could have stopped it.

My friend chose to stay silent, may god give her peace of mind with her decision.

اي خير ان شاء الله

2008-01-17T01:37:00.000+03:00

العثمان.. الكويت رائدة في مكافحة الاتجار بالشر ومكافحة الجريمة

القوانين والتشريعات 16/01/2008 07:12:00 م

النائب العام الكويتي المستشار حامد العثمان

القاهرة - 16 - 1 (كونا) - قال النائب العام الكويتي المستشار حامد العثمان ان للكويت دورا رائدا وكبيرا جدا على المستوى المحلي والاقليمي والدولي في مكافحة الاتجار بالبشر.
وذكر العثمان الذي ترأس الاجتماع الخاص بتنسيق مواقف الدول العربية بمؤتمر الاطراف الذي سيعقد في اندونسيا اواخر الشهر الجاري في تصريح لوكالة الانباء الكويتية (كونا) ان القانون الكويتي في نظرته الوطنية يساهم مساهمة فعالة جدا في مكافحة الفساد والجريمة بكافة انواعها.
وقال العثمان بعد اختتام الاجتماع ان دولة الكويت وقعت على كثير من الاتفاقيات الدولية ايمانا منها بأهمية القوانين والتشريعات الدولية وضرورة المصادقة عليها.
واكد أهمية أن تقف جميع الدول في مكافحة آفة الاتجار بالبشر ومكافحة الفساد مشيرا الى ان الكويت لديها قواعد قانونية وتشريعات وطنية تكافح هاتين الافتين.
وأشار الى أن الكويت صادقت على المستوى الدولي على الاتفاقية الدولية لمكافحة الجريمة المنظمة وعلى الاتفاقية الدولية لمكافحة الفساد مشيرا الى أن تصديق الكويت على هاتين الاتفاقيتين دليل على ايمانها بتطبيق القوانين الدولية برمتها دون تمييز.
وعن القوانين الجزائية قال العثمان ان لدى الكويت قانونا لغسيل الاموال مبينا ان هذا القانون يجرم اخفاء مصدرالاموال غير المشروعة ويظهرها بشكل مشروع لدى الكويت.
وأضاف ان هذا القانون مضى عليه الان نحو خمس سنوات وهو يقدم دون شك فائدة كبيرة وحتى ايضا على مستوى التعاون الثنائي بين الدول العربية وجميع الدول الاخرى.
وذكر العثمان ان لدى الكويت قانونا لحماية الاموال العامة مشيرا الى انه مضى عليه الان نحو 15 عاما ويسجل خطوة كبيرة ومتقدمة جدا في موضوع مكافحة الفساد في الاموال العامة ويقدم ايضا سبل الحماية وكفالة الاموال العامة حتى لا يكون هناك اي نوع من العبث في هذه الاموال.
وقال لدينا في مدونة القانون الجنائي قانون كويتي يجرم الرشوة بين الموظفين العموميين مضيفا ان القانون الكويتي يجرم أيضا التزوير بين الموظفين العمومين وفي القطاع الخاص.
وعن الاجتماع الذي اختتم هنا اليوم قال العثمان انه يأتي في سياق الاجتماعات التنسيقية قبل اجتماع مؤتمر الاطراف والاتفاقية الدولية لمكافحة الفساد والمبادرة العالمية لمكافحة الاتجار بالبشر التي ستعقد في فيينا في منتصف الشهر المقبل.
واضاف ان الاجتماع ركز على ابراز العلاقات الدولية فيما يتصل في موضوع هذه المكافحة كما ركز أيضا على ابراز التعاون الدولي في هذه المكافحة ودور التنسيق العربي.(النهاية) خ ز / ط أ ب كونا161912 جمت ينا 08

Venting

2008-01-14T02:08:00.001+03:00

The Angelican Church wanted to help hundreds of bengalis to return home by giving them tickets and the money they paid to come to kuwait and the money that was never given to them from their employers. So a formal letter was written to Zakat House to ask for donations, I signed the letter because they wanted to use a muslim name and in my case a very familiar muslim name. So Zakat House created a committee (Shoot me, i hate committees) to discuss the issue along with the ministry of social and labour affairs. So they agreed to donate 50,000 KD to help muslim expatriates in situations like those of the bengalis, they decided the money would be put in a fund in the ministry of social affairs and the money would be spent through them. Now the ministry is claiming they don't know where the money is and we're back in square one, there are more than 150 bengalis in shelters throughout town waiting to go home and many others in similar situations stuck in limbo without a dime to buy a ticket to go home. My family have been generous enough to help out many times, including Mesharee' Al-Khair a foundation owned by my uncle yet I can't keep going back to them, laws have to change, things have to be fixed to prevent situations like this, for one, the company who brought them has to deal with it, why is the ministry sooo easy on them!

What is really sad, other than the obvious, is that Kuwait was a country people dreamt of coming to, it was and surprisingly still is a country some asians wish to find a job in thinking they will provide a better living for their families back home when they do come. UNFORTUNATELY, the sad truth is, a lot of them were better off staying home. It breaks my heart to see any kind of sufferage but my heart bleeds when it's unjustified sufferage.

Another story...

A friend of mine introduced me to a gorgeous palestinian young lady a few months back, said she was in need of help. Her story is that she teaches at a middle school and was tutoring one of the girls in school at her home. The girl lives with her father who is divorced, the teacher became the desire of this man, she claims he was very decent and friendly with her and her family, even hired her disabled brother in his company. Long story short, he proposed, she accepted, she then began to see changes in him which concerned her, so she ended the engagement. At that point, the man made her brother sign documents and accused him of stealing money from him and filed a complaint at the police station. The brother was nowhere to be found, he was scared and ran away thinking he will be put in prison. So the police took the whole family, the pretty teacher and her parents in for questioning.. they spent 48 hours in jail.. meanwhile, the man (former fiance) tells the teacher that if she agrees to marriage then he will stop the charges against her brother. She doesn't agree. The family leave jail and head home because there is no case against them just inquiry about the son. A few days later the police pick the teacher up from school accusing her of stealing her fiance's money and jewellery, in which he claims he gave her when he proposed to her. She denies it all. Anyway there was a court case against her and her mother, as an accomplice. The verdict of the case came out a couple days ago, the judge ruled against them and sentenced them to 2 years in prison including the brother too. Oh I forgot to mention, her father died soon after he was put in prison, he died of a heart attack, his body was taken to Jordon, that trip was used in court as evidence against her, claiming she took the money and jewellery to Jordon which is why there was no traces of them in her house.

I don't really know why i'm so sad.. maybe cuz i met these people and they sound really sincere and I heard first hand the horror stories they went through in jail in Salmiyah and the one in Mubarak al Kabeer, yet if I want to be fair, there could also be a slight chance that this man was cheated. Either way, a two year sentence is very harsh.

The recent sentencing of the rapists who gang-raped a saudi girl was 10 months, untill they recently changed it to 5 years because of all the pressure they got for it http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/17/saudi.rape.victim/. So raping a girl is almost the same as being falsely accused of stealing or should I say the same as being accused of stealing without evidence of the stolen goods in your possession.

I feel helpless... I don't know what to do. This family is begging for help, I am in no position to do anything, it's beyond my capability.

After all that's been said. I will not give up. I love my country and I love the people here, a few corrupt souls will not break my spirit. I will be forever an optimist.

My heart goes out to the Tajeros

2008-01-08T21:21:00.000+03:00

A few months back Andy Tajero who worked for my family for 25 years was diagnosed with cancer and decided to get treated in the philippines. Late last night his sister Elizabeth Tajero (family nanny of 30 years) was informed that Andy had passed away. The staff in our house consists of neices and nephews and brothers and sisters all from the Tajero family... It's a sad sad sad day for my family, he was a wonderful man, may he rest in peace inshalla. My heart goes out to the Tajero family and to his wife Marlene and their kids.

I dedicate this song to the Tajeros and Chab girls and Bashar and Surra girls:

Lean on me

Let your voices and presence be heard and seen

2008-01-07T16:21:00.000+03:00

التاريخ: الثلاثاء، 8 يناير 2008

الوقت: الثامنة صباحا

المكان: مجلس الأمة الكويتي

لماذا؟ : لحضور جلسة مجلس الأمة المنعقدة ذلك الصباح لتسجيل موقفنا أمام أعضاء مجلس الأمة من القضايا التالية

1. رفض استغلال التعليم لتصفية الحسابات السياسية.

2.دعمنا ومساندتنا لوزيرة التعليم، المربية الفاضلة/ نورية الصبيح وتضامننا معها

يرجى ارتداء ملابس سوداء واحضار البطاقة المدنية للتمكن من دخول مجلس الأمة. الرجاء عدم التسبب بأي شكل من اشكال الفوضى أو الإزعاج داخل مبنى المجلس، فنحن متواجدون فقط لإظهار التضامن وتسجيل موقف.

Time for some changes

2008-01-02T12:37:00.000+03:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Changes I would love to see in 2008:

1. The Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Social Affairs take into consideration the rights of the people who reside in our country, and respect and care for their affairs. In other words, stricts actions should be taken against sponsors who bring labourers from asian countries under false pretenses just to take money from them and leave them lurking in the streets unemployed. Police officers should be much more civil when dealing with labour expats and stop treating them as though they are criminals, even if they are the ones filing complaints against their employers.

2. All Bedouns that serve in the military should be given the Kuwaiti Nationality, what and who do they serve for, if they are considered "without nationality"?

3. Free education. Every citizen should have the choice to pick the type of educational environment they would like to be part of, whether co-ed or segregated. I hope that the law that was past against co-education in private university changes and I wish our "progessive" parliament members fail to pass segregation in private highschools.

4. Raise of salaries in all governmental sectors especially in the oil sector, our bread and butter.

5. Shelters for abused women and children. Shelters for labour expats.

6. Housing compounds for labour expats that fit international regulations instead of cramping up 50 people in a room in jleeb shyoukh and khaitan.

7. babies born out of wedlock handed over to the embassies that their mothers belong to or taken in officially by the state instead of left in Al-Sabah Maternity hospital without identity.

more .... later.

Care to share the changes you want to see in 08?

Spread love... Stop hate.

من هم المواطنين الذين يستاجرون اراضي الدوله على العمال في جليب شيوخ

2007-12-28T11:41:00.000+03:00

عمال استأجروا أراضي للدولة من أحد المواطنين بمبلغ 400 دينار شهريا
إزالة مخلفات الحوط المخالفة في جليب الشيوخ

مخزن المخلفات28/12/2007 كتبت عائشة علي:شن فريق طوارئ بلدية في محافظة الفروانية رياض الربيع حملة على بعض الحوط المخالفة والمقامة على اراضي املاك الدولة في منطقة جليب الشيوخ.وقال الربيع في تصريح ل'القبس' انه بناء على تكليف من مدير عام البلدية المهندس احمد الصبيح في متابعة سيارات البلدية وبعد ملاحظة قيام العمال بفرز النفايات فيها وتجميعها في مواقع في منطقة جليب الشيوخ.واضاف ان فريق الطوارئ في محافظة الفروانية بالتعاون مع ادارة المهام الخاصة في وزارة الداخلية قاما بحصر هذه المواقع ومصادرتها وازالتها وهي عبارة عن سجاد وفرشات اسفنج وعلب من الصفيح وحديد، بالاضافة الى سكن لهؤلاء العمال.وكشف الربيع عن ضبط 17 عاملا وتمت احالتهم الى الجهات الامنية لاتخاذ الاجراءات القانونية بحقهم، بالاضافة الى ازالة الموقع وتنظيفه، متمنيا من الاهالي الابلاغ عن اي امور غريبة تحصل في مناطقهم.وقال الربيع ان فريق طوارئ الفروانية يستقبل شكاوى المواطنين والمقيمين على الخط الساحن رقم 855551.واوضح الربيع ان العمال كشفوا عن قيامهم باستئجار اراض لاملاك الدولة في منطقة سكن خاص من احد المواطنين بمبلغ 400 دينار شهريا.واعرب الربيع عن شكره وتقديره لتعاون وزراة الداخلية ممثلا بالنقيب مساعد العنزي ورجال الامن مع فريق الطوارئ.إزالة التعدياتعلى صعيد آخر، واصلت فرق ازالة التعديات الواقعة على املاك الدولة حملتها ضد جميع التعديات والمظاهر غير الحضارية التي قام اصحاب السكن الخاص بعملها على املاك الدولة، حيث اسفرت حملتهم عن ازالة 178 تعديا في جميع محافظات الكويت.وقال رئيس لجنة ازالة التعديات الواقعة على املاك الدولة في محافظة الاحمدي دعيج السنافي ان الفريق قام بازالة 32 تعديا في منطقة المنقف قام اصحابها بعودة تلك التعديات على املاك الدولة، مؤكدا ان الفريق لا يتهاون مع مثل تلك التجاوزات، حيث ان خطة عمل الفريق تتطلب التفتيش الدوري والمستمر على المناطق التي تم الانتهاء منها، وذلك للتأكد من خلوها من التعديات التي قد يتسبب بها المواطنون اثر انشغال الفريق بازالة تعديات منطقة اخرى، مشددا على ضرورة التزام اهالي منطقة المنقف بعدم تكرار المخالفات الواقعة على املاك الدولة حتى لا يتعرضوا للمساءلة القانونية.واوضح رئيس لجنة ازالة التعديات الواقعة على املاك الدولة في محافظة حولي طارق القطان ان اجمالي عدد الازالات بلغ 26 تعديا في منطقة مشرف شملت ازالة اعمدة خرسانية واقعة على املاك الدولة وكذلك ازالة سور وبوابات خارجية فضلا عن قيام بعض اهالي المنطقة ببناء حظائر خارجية مخصصة للحيوانات وتغطي مساحات على املاك الدولة، متمنيا تعاون اهالي منطقة مشرف مع فريق الازالات لرفع تعدياتهم قبل وصول جرافات البلدية.واشار رئيس لجنة ازالة التعديات الواقعة على املاك الدولة في محافظة العاصمة علي القويضي الى ان الفريق مستمر بالعمل في منطقة النزهة، حيث اسفرت الحملة عن ازالة 11 تعديا في المنطقة شملت حدائق وحظائر وكذلك شبرات خارجية مخصصة للخدم، مشددا على ضرورة الالتزام بمساحات الارتدادات التي امام المنزل وعدم تعديها ببناء واستغلال تلك المساحات حتى لا يتعرض اصحاب السكن الخاص إلى عمليات الازالة التي قد تسبب الخسائر المادية.وبين رئيس لجنة ازالة التعديات الواقعة على املاك الدولة في محافظة مبارك الكبير ان اجمالي عدد الازالات بلغ 21 تعديا في منطقة القرين كانت لاشجار وزراعات مرتفعة تحجب الرؤية وتسبب الحوادث فضلا عن ازالة شبرات واعمدة خرسانية واقعة على املاك الدولة، متمنيا من اهالي منطقة القرين الالتزام بعدم تكرار المخالفات والتعديات.وقال رئيس لجنة ازالة التعديات الواقعة على أملاك الدولة في محافظة الجهراء عبدالله الميع ان الفريق قام بازالة 20 تعديا في منطقة العيون كانت لازالة شبرات وغرف معدة للخدم والتخزين فضلا عن فتح ممرات كانت مغلقة وتعيق حركة السير وكذلك ازالة زراعات تجاور الرصيف وتتلف المال العام.واوضح رئيس لجنة ازالة التعديات الواقعة على املاك الدولة في محافظة الفروانية رياض الربيع ان عدد الازالات بلغ 68 تعديا في منطقة عبدالله المبارك.
http://www.alqabas.com.kw/Final/NewspaperWebsite/NewspaperPublic/ArticlePage.aspx?ArticleID=345649

من هم المواطنين الذين يستاجرون اراضي الدوله على العمال في جليب شيوخ?

متى?

2007-12-25T18:03:00.000+03:00

مادة 7 - العدل والحرية والمساواة دعامات المجتمع والتعاون والتراحم صلة وثقى بين المواطنين

مادة 30 - الحرية الشخصية مكفولة

Best Wishes

2007-12-19T14:43:00.000+03:00

عيدكم مبارك و عساكم من عواده

Happy Eid

I broke the law and I am very sorry

2007-12-16T15:37:00.000+03:00

I got pulled over by a cop yesterday for speeding. I did not realize I was going 166 km/hr on the highway, it was empty but still no excuse for speeding. The policeman revoked my licence and fined me 50 k.d, I drove home shameless with just a yellow slip.

I feel terrible for my recklessnes but I'm very happy that the law is finally being enforced.

Let's hope the law's enforced with "tejar al iqamat" as well.

Child Abuse

2007-12-14T11:14:00.000+03:00

I got a call from my cousin last night, she was screaming at me saying "you pay sooo much attention to the labour expats issues, that you've neglected your own people's rights" She was at the supermarket last night when she saw a Kuwaiti man and an asian woman in the car with 3 children ages from 3 years to 6 years. When the man got out of the car to get things from the supermarket, the asian woman started throwing punches at the 3 year old, slapping him and punching him while looking around to see if the man was coming. So my cousins confronted the man and he said the woman was his wife, which gives her the right to slap her own kids.

Anywhere in the world you can call child protection services in cases such as these, but in Kuwait we have not yet tackled the issue of child abuse thinking it really is none of our business. A friend of mine worked at Farwaniya hospital for a while and she said it was very common that children would be admitted to the hospital for broken bones and burns. The story is the father or mother would make threats like "If you do that one more time, I'll thrown you from the roof" or "if you don't stop that i'll burn you with hot tea" and when the child doesn't stop, the parent literally does what they planned to do so that they stick to their word and the kids will always take them seriously.

These kids are the future of Kuwait, how stable can an abused child be? These parents are destroying the future of their kids and destroying Kuwait's future.. How successul will an abused child be? What can they give back to society? Are they going to be future abusers?

Isn't it time to have a major awareness campaign on abuse and especially child abuse?

Alone

2007-12-11T13:17:00.000+03:00

I've had to go back and forth to the hospital for some check ups ... Alone.

I usually don't like burdening people by asking them to come with me which is basically why I went alone to all my appointments ... it was hours and hours of waiting ... all alone.

I keep repeating Alone.. cuz i've never felt sooo alone in my life, maybe the closest I felt to this feeling is my days in New York when I was in school, yet back then it was sort of expected that we'd feel alone.

Anyway... Here I am in a country full of family and friends and yet I still feel alone.

Can you imagine how people from India and the Philipinnes and Indonesia and Bangladesh and Egypt and many other countries feel when they come to Kuwait... All alone.

Caring

2007-12-05T16:15:00.000+03:00

Caring for others is such a satisfying feeling especially when they are less priviledged or have been treated unfairly. In my case, I spend most of my time caring for labour expats who have been abused one way or another and local women and children who have been abused by family members... It's a great humbling experience that has made me want to work more and do more.

Caring for someone means being able to live in their shoes and feel what they are feeling in order to really empathise. But I've recently realized that I understand the sorrows of strangers more than those around me. Charity starts from the home.. or through those who are closest to your heart.

A couple of years ago a close person to me had a bad foot injury.. This person was one of the most physically active people I've ever known ... The injury really took a toll on my friend's morale... my friend became disconnected... because of the severe pain, there was no more physical activity in their life .. it was almost like it's the end of the world... especially being at such a young age. This friend recently opened up to me about all these feelings and how hard it is to find an incentive to do anything anymore in such a weak physical state and all I could say was "You are unbelievably smart, how about focusing your energy on that instead of just dwelling on your physical disabilities".. I really thought I was helping, I thought it was quite shallow to care so much about whether you can kick a ball again or not... I did not realize the enormous effect it had on my friend's mental state.

A few days ago I had a cramped muscle in my thigh from (oddly enough) Tai Chi and I struggled going up and down the stairs at my grandmother's house.. I remembered my friend's conversation and how sad my friend was for not being able to go up and down the stairs on both legs. Tears rolled down my eyes within seconds, not only because I cared about this person but also because I didn't take the time to understand the situation and live in my friend's shoes untill I had to experience it myself.

To truely care is to really empathize and sympathize. Maybe we should take the time to understand people more and put ourselves in their shoes and understand what they are going through... well atleast I should.

Following up on HATE

2007-11-26T01:21:00.000+03:00

This topic is embarrassingly shallow but is unfortunately whats being said and thought in our community.

Do we hate for the sake of hating?

Some people were born to hate a person, race, country and so on ...

I've noticed in Kuwait it's become a common thing... It has gone as far as hating a person then hating the whole family/tribe because of it's association to this person.

examples:

- Some Palestinians stood by Iraq during it's invasion of Kuwait and the Palestinian government which was basically sheltered by Kuwait and was working out of Kuwait for years turns against us... Now... it has been embedded in many people's heads that "Palestinians are traitors" ... that's fair enough... I don't agree but I won't argue against it either... But when people go as far as becoming advocates of Israel and everything it represents... I think its pure hatred towards those who hurt you taken to the point where it has clouded one's head.

- Jalal Al Talabani was Saddam's biggest opposition, he is now the president of Iraq... on his visit to Kuwait a lot of people were somber because Iraq's flag were flying next to the Kuwaiti flag.. most weren't very excited by Talabani's visit because "he is Iraqi". Hatred towards Saddam's Iraq still remains even after the change of regime.

- The Bangladeshi community in Kuwait are underpaid if ever paid and a lot of them started acting up by stealing, raping and even committing murder.. its quite unfortunate that now has become a stereotype that all Bengalis are bad-natured.

- Shiites and Sunnis? Those who are able to see human beings for who they are and not who and what they belong to are the ones who have no problem with sunnis and shiites... the rest... a lot of people I've encountered if Sunni sees Shiites as people who have loyalty only to Iran and the Shiites think Sunnis have loyalty to Saudi clerics. Our Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) Ali, Hassan and Hussain would be shamed by how Muslims are behaving.

- A common one is the attitude of "Dakhel Al Sour" and "Kharej Al Sour" mentalities... which I don't feel like touching up on right now... till then... KHODA HAFIZ!

HATE

2007-11-23T10:07:00.001+03:00

Do we hate for the sake of hating? Is hatred towards a family, race, person, group of people, tribe,leader, religion, or religious sect inherited by a child from the parents? Where does Humanity stand in all this?

Will discuss further ... later.

Government Vs. Parliament

2007-11-23T02:04:00.000+03:00

The Government vs. The Parliament ... Who's more negligent when it comes to human rights issues in Kuwait?

Just a reminder of violations that often happen in Kuwait

- Women getting raped by a family member
- Children physically abused by one of their parents
- House maids emprisoned in their employers' homes
- Expats working in the private sector blackmailed and mistreated by former employees by using sponsorship/residency documents against them
- Underpaid labour expats/domestic labour ... if ever paid on time
- Spousal abuse

Both are to blame for the degradation of our society and country as a whole, though the government is a little more responsive than the disconnected parliament that self-serves.

On a much lighter note: Welcome Baby Nasser Abdullah Al-Nasser to the family

Core Values

2007-11-20T23:58:00.000+03:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.. Mostly because I was asked by someone what my most important core values are... and was asked to choose 4.

I was perplexed and couldn't give an answer off the cuff... there's so much to say and so many but after much thought... I finally came up with those:

1. Honesty
2. Humanity
3. Self-evolution/knowledge
4. Modesty/Humbleness

Now .... Do we think of our core values when we choose a partner in life and whether it is essential that they share the same values? when we start a new job? make new friends? I don't want to dwell on "what if's?" but ... what if we did pay attention to them... would our lives have turned out this way? Would we have made different choices?

Not my usual post... just needed to vent. What are your four core values?

تكفون..لا تنسون تدعون للكويت

2007-10-13T02:20:00.000+03:00

اللهم لك الحمد على ما أعطيت اهل الكويت من جزيل العطاء.لك الحمد على ما اكرمتنا بوافر الخير والنماء، لك الحمد ان جعلت اهل الكويت اهل كرم وسخاء، لك الحمد ربنا كثيرا كما تنعم كثيرا، اللهم اكرم اهل الكويت برحمة من عندك تؤلف بين قلوبهم وتصلح ذات بينهم وتجمعهم على كلمة الحق والخير يا رب العالمين.اللهم الف بين قلوب النواب والوزراء واجمع كلمة القائمين علينا على امر سواء، واشغلهم ربنا بحاجات شعبهم لا بحاجاتهم واشغلهم بهموم الناس لا بهمومهم، واشغلهم ربنا في ما يرضيك عنهم لا في ما يرضي انفسهم، ولا تضيع ربنا الامانة من بين ايديهم واجعلهم ربنا ممن حملوا الامانة فصانوها وشرفوا بالامانة فحفظوها، اللهم لا تجعل بأسهم بينهم واجعل بأسهم على عدوك وعدوهم، اللهم قنعهم بما اعطيتهم ورضهم بما انعمت عليهم واشغلهم بحفظ هذا البلد وبنمائه ورخائه يا رب العالمين.اللهم انك شرفت نوابنا بتولي امورنا فأعنهم على ذلك يا رب العالمين ولا تكلهم الى انفسهم طرفة عين الهمهم ربنا الصواب والسداد والرشاد.اللهم ان وزراءنا كلفوا بحمل الامانة فأعنهم ربنا ولا تخذلهم واعنهم على ما فيه صلاح البلاد والعباد.اللهم كما انعمت علينا بوافر فضلك وعطائك فلا تجعل ربنا هذه النعم وبالا علينا وانزع ربنا الغل والحسد من قلوب رجالنا ونسائنا وقنا ربنا شرور انفسنا ومطامع اهوائنا وقنعنا ربنا بما رزقتنا ولا تجعل عيوننا وقلوبنا تطمع فيما عند غيرنا.اللهم اعنا على شكر نعمك واجعل هذه النعم امنا وامانا لأهل الكويت واجعلها ربنا سلما وسلاما في كل بيت.اللهم ان اهل الكويت طيبون فلا تجعلهم ممن شغلتهم الدنيا عن الدين، اللهم احفظ شبابنا وشاباتنا من المخدرات ومن المسكرات ومن جميع الآفات ومن سيئ الاخلاق واشغلهم في خير هذه البلد وفي طاعتك يا رب العالمين اللهم حبب لبناتنا الستر والحياء وجميل الاخلاق.اللهم لك الحمد حتى ترضى ولك الحمد اذا رضيت ولك الحمد على الرضا ولك الحمد على حمدنا اياك يا رب العالمين.اللهم انك اخترت لأهل الكويت الطيبين آل الصباح الخيرين فأتممت علينا جزيل فضلك واحسانك اللهم انا نشهد بأنهم اقاموا فينا شرعك ورفعوا لواء دينك واكرموا حفاظ كتابك ونصروا من نصر الاسلام، اللهم انا نشهد انهم اكرمونا وما ظلمونا فأمد لهم ربنا من وافر فضلك وجهودك وكرمك.اللهم احفظ اميرنا ومد له بموفور الصحة والعافية وايده بتأييدك وانصره بنصرك واجمعنا ربنا على كلمته وتحت راية حكمه يا رب العالمين واجعلنا له خير شعب لخير حاكم واجر الخير على يديه والحق على لسانه واصلح به البلاد والعباد واجزه عنا خير ما جزيت حاكما عن شعبه يا رب العالمين.اجب دعوانا برحمتك يا مولانا والحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيدنا محمد وآله وصحبه اجمعين.

http://www.alqabas.com.kw/Final/NewspaperWebsite/NewspaperPublic/ArticlePage.aspx?ArticleID=321085

انقذوا الخدم من روتين الاجراءات الرسمية

2007-10-11T22:49:00.001+03:00

امتلات السجون والمخافر بالخدم اللذين سجلت بحقهم بلاغات تغيب وتم ضبطهم ومن ثم حبسهم واستدعاء كفلائهم
ان ما آلت الية حالة العمالة المنزلية من مأسي انسانية تستوجب على الحكومة ومجلس الامة الاسراع بأصدار تشريع بقانون ينظم ويحفظ حقوق العمالة المنزلية وفق المعايير الدولية والانظمة المعمول بها في البلاد مراعيا عادات وتقاليد اهل الكويت.
حيث بات لا يخفى على الجميع ما يعاني منه الخدم الذين زج بهم في السجون وامتلأت بهم نظارات المخافر وذلك بدون جرم ارتكبوه وانما بسبب سوء معاملة مخدوميهم وكفلائهم لهم ولعدم وجود قانون مختص بشئونهم فباتوا كرة تتقاذفها أدارات الدولة والكل يخلي مسئوليته عن تبعيتها وهذا ما ينعكس سلبا عليهم ويطيل فترة بقائهم في السجون بدون اتخاذ اي اجراء بحقهم والكثير منهم قاموا كفلائهم بأحضار جوازاتهم وتذاكر سفرهم الى المخفر ليتم ترحيلهم الى بلادهم وكانت المفاجئة عندما رفض ضابط المخفر السماح للخادم بالخروج من النظارة بموافقة كفيلة مدعيا انه يجب ترحيلة الى أدارة التحقيقات اولا وذهب الكفيل الى ادارة التحقيقات التابعة لها المخفر فقوبل برفض المحقق طلبة الافراج عن الخادم مدعيا بوجوب عرض الخادم على الادعاء ومن ثم يحول الى الابعاد وهي جهة الاختصاص لترحيل الخادم فتسائل الكفيل لماذا كل هذه الاجراءات الغير مبررةعلما بان الخادم لم يرتكب اي جرم اثناء تغيبة.
فنحن بدورنا ندعوا وزارة الداخلية الى معاملة العمالة المنزلية المتغيبة كمعاملة المواطن المتغيب حيث يسجل بلاغ تغيب بالمخفر ويصدر بحقة ضبط واحظار وعند العثور علية يتم تسليمة الى ذوية فورا ما لم يكن هناك جرم ارتكبة وما هو متبع الان للعمالة المنزلية عندما يبلغ الكفيل المخفر بتغيب الخادم تسجل قضية تغيب فورا بحق الخادم وبهذا الاجراء تخلي ادارة الهجرة مسئوليتها ودورها الاساسي وهو حفظ حقوق الخادم والمخدوم وتشرك بذلك ادارة التحقيقات والادعاء العام وعندما يتم ضبط الخادم لا يستطيع الكفيل اخراجه من السجن الا بعد ان يكمل دورة الاجراءات القانونية حالة حال المجرمين الذين ارتكبوا جرائم بحق الاخرين غير مكترثين بطبيعة هذه العمالة وما تعانية من سوء معاملة حيث انها مجني عليها وليست جانية كما ينظر لها البعض فمن هذا المنطلق نطالب ان تكون الادارة العامة للهجرة هي الوحيدة المسئولة عن تغيب الخدم لما في ذلك من سهولة استرجاعهم لكفلائهم بعد العثور عليهم اذا رغبوا بذلك او ترحيلهم الى ديارهم بسهولة وبدون سجن وفي فترة قصيرة ما لم يكن هناك جرم ارتكبوه.

Humanistically Incorrect by being Literally Incorrect

2007-10-11T16:21:00.000+03:00

The following website could have taken a little bit more time to be a little more politically or humanistically correct when addressing the issue of domestic labour for hire. They should have used better words. These are people we are talking about and not objects.

http://www.q8khadam.com/Default_eng.aspx

Here are a few examples of what I mean by Humanistically incorrect (highlighted)

http://www.q8khadam.com/aboutus.aspx

D- The visitor may care about more than home labour during his search. in this case he can press the add to my special lst to save it in my cart list

E- After the visitor finishes his search he press the my cart button to see his favurite list and begin to choose the one which suit him

And on the very end of the page it says:

Treat your self by surfing our websit.thank s for you visit

Its like they are talking about Candy and not actual people.

The website also didn't care to have a membership online in order to access the list of companies and available employees, so you can actually just scroll down and find their resume with pictures. That unprofessional and unacceptable, they should have all pictures and CVs accessed only through memberships with passwords as a respect for the foreign labourers.

More than 500 expats in jails around Kuwait waiting to be deported and 1,200 at the deportation department also waiting for months.

2007-10-05T14:20:00.000+03:00

There are more than 30 labour expats in each jail (Makhfar) in Kuwait awaiting deportation, they have not been sent to the deportation department because it's overloaded with more than 1,200 people still waiting to go back home. A lot of expats have tickets ready from their sponsors but it has become a matter of lazy ministry officials that don't want to bother with paper work.

These people need to go home now, it's unnecessary to keep them here this long! They are staying for weeks and months without pay and without any contact with their families back home. Our organization has tickets ready for the 1,200 people at the deportation department but the officials has been stalling us for more than a month now. We are angry and frustrated!

Why can't people here be a little more HUMANE!!!!

I'll post more on this subject later.. I'm furious.

( ارحموا من في الارض يرحمكم من في السماء )
من المسؤل عند انتهاك حقوق العمالة وعدم احترام انسانيتهم. يضع البعض اللوم والمسؤلية على الاسر واصحاب الاعمال والبعض الاخر يضع المسولية على العمالة انفسهم والكل له وجهة نظر ورأية الخاص ونحن نحترم وجهات النظر وآراء الاخرين ونوافقهم الرأي في بعض الحالات ولكن لكوننا مختصون ولنا خبرتنا في الدفاع عن حقوق العمالة وأعطــاء كل ذي حق حقة نضع اللوم على الجهات الرسمية ذات الصلة والتي كان من الاجدا بها ان تسرع بتعديل قانون العمل بالقطاع الخاص لما له من دور ايجابي بالحد من هذه الظاهره وتشريع قانون للعمالة المنزلية يختص بها ويراعي حقوق الطرفين كما هو معمول بالدول المتقدمة حيث يبلغ عدد العمالة المنزلية في دولة الكويت (560 الف) خادم وخادمة من مجموع العمالــة الــوافدة التــي يبلــغ تعدادهـــا مـــا يــقــارب ( مليونين ومائة الف ) عامل وعاملة وهذه الاعداد يجب ان ينظر الها بعين الاعتبار حيث انها اتت لتحسين ظروفها المعيشية وبطلب من الحكومة عن طريق الاجراءات الرسمية للعمل والكسب الحلال ولم تأتي خلسة عبر الحدود لكي يتم معاملتها المعاملة اللاانسانية كما هو معمول به في مخافر وزارة الداخلية المنتشرة على كافة المحافظات حيث يتم حبس الخدم في تلك النظارات والتي وضعت للموقوفين لمدة 24 ساعة ليتم الافراج عنهم او ايداعهم بالسجون لكن استبدلت الان لتكون سجـون لتلك العمالة حيث تـــم حبـــس ( 1200 ) خادمة بمعدل 25 خادمة بالمخفر الواحد في ظروف غير انسانية ولا تتوافق مع المقاييس والمواثيق الدولية للسجون والمؤسسات الاصلاحية والتي وقعت عليها دولة الكويت.
وعندما علمنا بهذه المأسي قمنا بزيارة بعض المخافر للاطلاع وتقديم المساعدة وتخفيف المعاناة عنهم فوجئنا بأن البعض لدية جوازه وتذكرة سفر لبلده ولم يستطع المغادرة وذلك لرفض استقبالهم من قبل ادارة التحقيقات ( الجنح الخاصة) لانهاء اجراءات ترحيلهم كما هو متبع بحالات التغيب بذريعة نقص المحققيين لدى الادارة ويتم اعادتهم مرة اخرى الى تلك الاقفاص ان صح التعبير للاسبوع القادم تبعا للجدول المعد للمقابلات كل يوم احد وثلاثاء وغالبا ما يجدون الجواب نفسه والاعداد تتزايد والكل من المسئولين يضع المسئولية على الاخر والعمالة تدفع الثمن لذالك التقصير واللامبالاة لانسانيتهم .

يجب إلغاء دور الكفيل

2007-09-19T16:39:00.000+03:00

كان بالأجدر من الحكومة أن تلغي نظام الكفيل بدلاً من إقامة مقار إيواء للعمالة الوافدة والمنزلية فبالاستمرار بالعمل بنظام الكفيل سوف ينتج عنه العديد من الظواهر السلبية والمزيد من الانتهاكات لحقوق تلك العمالة وذلك بسبب تعنت بعض الكفلاء وسوء استغلال هذه العمالة وانتهاك حقوقهم مما ينعكس سلباً على سلوكياتهم ويؤدي ذلك إلى هروب الكثير منهم ومن الجدير بالذكر ان عند هروب العمالة أو الخدم من كفلائهم يقتصر دور الكفيل بإبلاغ الجهات الرسمية بذلك ومن هنا ينتهي دوره وتقوم الجهات الرسمية بالقيام بجميع الأدوار اللاحقة ومنها إلغاء الإقامة والبحث والتحري وملاحقة تلك العمالة الهاربة وفي حالة إلقاء القبض عليهم يتم إيداعهم في سجن الإبعاد لانتظار تسفيرهم لبلدانهم بدون جرماً ارتكبوه وإنما بسبب جشاعة وطمع تجار الإقامات ومسيئي ومستغل معاملة تلك العمالة التي لا حول ولا قوة لها وأتت لتحسين دخل أسرها وضمان معيشتهم في بلدانهم وانتهى بهم الأمر فريسة بين يدي تجار الإقامات ومكاتب استخدام العمالة وفي حالة رفض الكفيل دفع تذكرة السفر تقوم الدولة ممثله بوزارة الداخلية بدفع التذكرة والقيام بجميع الإجراءات المتبعة لتسفيرهم لبلدانهم نيابة عن الكفيل فما حاجتنا للكفيل بعد ذلك لذا يجب إلغاء دور الكفيل وتقوم وزارة الداخلية متمثلة بإدارات الهجرة ومراكز خدمة المجتمع بالتنسيق مع وزارة الشؤون متمثلة بإدارات العمل للقيام بإصدار الإقامات وذلك حسب تقدير الاحتياج الفعلي لأصحاب الأعمال وحسب احتياج أرباب الأسر من العمالة المنزلية وتقوم الدولة بدور الكفيل مما يتسنى لأصحاب الأعمال باستبدال العمالة حسب كفاءتهم وحاجاتهم لهم دون الحاجة لتحويل إقامتهم وهذا النظام سوف يقضي على الكثير من المشاكل العمالية ويحد من انتهاكات حقوقهم وينعكس ذلك إيجاباُ على سمعة الكويت في المحافل الدولية ذات الصلة وهذا ووفقنا الله في خدمة وطننا الكويت.

Kafeel, or no Kafeel, That is the question.

2007-09-18T21:28:00.000+03:00

Kafeel = Sponsor

The Government has been showing some real interest in cancelling the sponsorship system. By recognizing the flaw of the sponsorship system and its use as modern slavery is a step towards reform. Let's hope the parliament makes it a priority as well.

Here are a few articles on this subject:-

Kuwaiti Cabinet to review new labor law; ILO submits report on sponsor system options

25 July 2005Kuwait City - The International Labor Organization (ILO) in Kuwait recently submitted a report to the organization's regional office in Lebanon on the procedures implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor to review the private sector labor law, reports Al-Watan daily. Quoting the organization's representative Thabet Al-Haroon, the daily added the issue of alternatives to the sponsor system was also included in the report. The report states the ministry has submitted a new private sector labor law to the Council of Ministers to approve and transfer to Parliament, said Al-Haroon.He pointed out the ministry has agreed with the international organization to approving the new law based on points of view of various concerned parties. On the issue of finding alternatives for the sponsor system Al-Haroon said ILO has submitted a copy of the study it conducted on canceling the sponsor system. Explaining the previous study was conducted more than 3 years ago Al-Haroon said the organization is prepared to conduct another study in this regard. The organization's report states Kuwait is concerned with all problems faced by laborers and is willing to discuss the issues whatever they be, confirmed Al-Haroon.The report also included a positive mention on the ministry's actions in dealing with the issue of child labor, said Al-Haroon. The Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Faisal Al-Hajji has submitted a memorandum to the Council of Ministers to issue a decision forbidding the use of child jockeys in camel racing as a first step to issuance of a law forbidding any person from using children in camel sports explained Al-Haroon.
© Arab Times 2005
Article originally published by Arab Times 25-Jul-05

الشؤون ونظام الكفيل..لا تزال "تدرس جدياً"!!
كتب برجس النومان:
نشرت الصحف يوم الأحد الماضي خبراً مفاده أن وزارة الشؤون تدرس جدياً إلغاء نظام الكفيل، ما أثار تساؤلات عديدة من قبل المتابعين لهذا الشأن ولقضايا حقوق الإنسان عن السبب في استمرار الوزارة في دراسة موضوع يفترض أنها أشبعته بحثاً ودراسة ونقاشا وكذلك ردودها على المنظمات الدولية المهتمة بحقوق الإنسان ومنظمة العمل الدولية حيث دأبت الحكومة ممثلة بوزارة الشؤون على اعتبار أي تقرير من هذه المنظمات بمثابة شتيمة لها إذا ما تناول أوضاع العمالة الوافدة في الكويت والخليج، وكانت وزارات الشؤون في دول الخليج تتسابق على إرسال مسؤوليها الى المؤتمرات الدولية "للرد" على "ادعاءات" تلك المنظمات التي تعتبرها تقارير "مدسوسة" وتبحث عن فرص "لتشويه" سمعة الكويت والخليج وما الى ذلك من اتهامات توجه لأكثر المنظمات الأهلية في العالم نزاهة وموضوعية·
وزارة الشؤون وكثير من المسؤولين فيها ناقشوا هذه الموضوعات على صفحات الصحف اليومية في تعليقهم على تقارير منظمة العمل الدولية المتعلقة بالعمالة الوافدة وبنظام الكفيل بشكل خاص، وكانت تعليقات المسؤولين في أغلب الأحوال أن التقارير متجنية بحق الكويت وأنها (الكويت) تتقدم سريعاً في تطوير قوانينها وأن الجهات العالمية التي تكتب عن أوضاع العمالة لا تتناول إلا الجوانب السلبية فقط وكأن تلك المنظمات العالمية مكاتب علاقات عامة لتلميع صورة بعض الدول·
نظام الكفيل أصبح عنواناً دائماً لنقد دول الخليج وقوانين العمالة فيها، فهو النظام الذي يستخدمه تجار الإقامات لاستعباد العمالة الأجنبية وبالتحديد العمالة السائبة التي تبحث عن أي عمل يدوي لأن من أتى بها الى البلد أخذ نصيبه من عرق وجهد هؤلاء المساكين وتركهم في الشارع كي يجمعوا مالاً يأخذه هو في السنة التالية عندما يحين تجديد إقاماتهم وهكذا يثرى البعض بالمتاجرة في مصائر الناس الذين تنشر أخبار انتحار بعضهم الصحف بشكل يومي· أما الدولة فهي ترى كل هذا وتتمسك بنظام الكفيل الذي تقول الوزارة إنها "تدرس" فكرة إلغائه!!!
المنظمات العالمية المهتمة ترى في نظام الكفيل تقنينا غير مباشر للرق واستغلال البشر بشكل غير إنساني، وحكومة الكويت "تدرس" ولا يعرف كم من الوقت (بالسنوات) ستحتاج لاستكمال الدراسة!!
لذا يدعو المهتمون بحقوق الإنسان وحقوق العمال نواب الأمة الى تشريع قانون يعالج توفير العمالة الوافدة من دون نظام الكفيل بحيث تكون الدولة هي الكافل لهذه العمالة وفق الحاجة الفعلية وتخصصات المتقدمين للحصول على إذن عمل لدخول البلد كما تفعل أغلب دول العالم، فللدولة أن تحصل على رسوم مقابل إدخال العمالة بدلاً من أن يتولى الأمر تجار البشر وبشكل غير إنساني من ناحية وخطر من الناحية الأمنية·
المسألة كما يراها المهتمون ليست بإعادة اختراع العجلة من جديد بل بتعديل القوانين الكويتية المتعلقة بالعمالة لتنسجم مع مطالب المنظمات المتخصصة وبشكل يحمي حقوق العمالة بما فيها خدم المنازل بحيث يضمن التعديل القانوني آليات تطبيقه فلا فائدة من قانون يختص بالعمالة ولا تعلم عنه تلك العمالة أو لا تعرف كيف تطالب بتطبيقه لصالحها

http://www.taleea.com/newsdetails.php?id=9406&ISSUENO=1755

في سبعينيات القرن الماضي، مع فورة الثورة النفطية وما تلاها من صناعات وازدهار اقتصادي، باتت دول الخليج العربي بحاجة للعمالة.. فتوافد ملايين العمال الأجانب، من سريلانكا والفيليبين وبنغلادش والهند وباكستان والبلدان العربية. وكان لا بد من نظام ينظم ما صار يوصف بـ«غزو» العمال الأجانب، الذي تتعرض له الدول الخليجية، فكان أن أقر نظام الكفالة.
لا يمكن للأجنبي العمل في الخليج، قانونياً، إلا بوجود مواطن خليجي يكفله، ويكون، غالباً، صاحب العمل نفسه، الذي يتقدم بطلب إلى وزارة العمل، التي تمنحه التصريح باستقدام عمالة أجنبية، بعد استيفاء الشروط الضرورية. بعدها يبحث صاحب العمل أو «الكفيل» عن العامل، عبر مكاتب التوظيف أو بشكل شخصي.
وحالما يصل العامل للبلاد، يصبح، بموجب هذا النظام، ملتزماً بالعمل لدى كفيله لعامين، مهما كانت ظروف العمل، ولا يحق له الانتقال لعمل غيره إلا بإذنه، كإعارة من الكفيل الأول للثاني لمدة ستة أشهر، ويتم تجديدها بحسب موافقة الأول، عبر نقل الكفالة، وهو ما يراه ناشطون في حقوق الإنسان أنه «شبيه بنظام الرق».
و«الكفيل»، مسؤول عن «المكفول»، ماديا وقانونيا ومعنويا، وتتم معظم تعاملات المكفول مع الجهات الحكومية وتعاملاته المصرفية أو الاجتماعية (مثل: شراء سيارة، أو الحصول على رخصة قيادة، أو حتى استقدام زوجته وأولاده)، عن طريق «الكفيل» نفسه.
وإذا ألغى الكفيل إقامة مكفوله، فلا يحق له العودة إلى هذا البلد إلا بعد مضي عامين، أو بموافقة الكفيل على عودته. ولعل أسوأ ما يتعرض له المكفول هو احتفاظ الكفيل بجواز سفره، فلا يستطيع السفر إلا بإذنه.
ويرى ناشطون أن هذا الإجراء يُعد مخالفة للقوانين الدولية التي «تحظر فرض قيود لمنع الأشخاص من التنقل والسفر»، كما جاء في المادة 13 من الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان.
إلا أن الصحافي الأميركي اريك واينر، الذي عمل في الكويت لعامين، يرى فيه نظاماً يهدف إلى «التأكد من عدم مغادرة الأجنبي للبلاد قبل تسديد الديون المترتبة عليه»، ولو أنه قد «يشجّع الكفلاء على اتخاذ مكفوليهم كرهائن».
ويتقاضى «المكفول» أجراً مقابل إنجاز العمل المطلوب منه، ويمكنه أن يتقدم بشكوى إلى الجهات المعنية، في حال تعرضه لمخالفات أو انتهاك لقوانين العمل، لكن كثيرين يقولون إن السلطات عادة ما تقف إلى جانب مواطنها الكفيل.
في المقابل، يرى باحثون أن نظام الكفالة وُضع ليكون «الكفيل» راعيا للعامل، ومساعدا للدولة في ضبط سوق العمالة، الذي يمثل نسبة كبيرة من السكان. وإنه لو تم إلغاء هذا النظام، فسوف يتدفق على دول الخليج ملايين العمال من الدول الآسيوية والعربية، وهو ما سينتج عنه مشكلات اقتصادية واجتماعية وديموغرافية.
العمالة الأجنبية «تهديد»؟
يشرح وزير العمل البحريني مجيد العلوي لـ«السفير» أن «الضغوطات التي تمارسها جهات دولية لتوطين الأجانب، تعني تغيير التركيبة الديموغرافية في المنطقة.. فهل نشهد بعد سنوات رؤساء في الخليج باكستانيين أو هنودا؟».. فـ«العمالة الأجنبية أخطر من إسرائيل والنووي»!
ويقول العلوي إن «العمالة الأجنبية تزاحم البحرينيين في سوق العمل... لان أجرهم ومطالبهم أقل.. فمن سيرغب في تشغيل الخليجي؟!»، وهو أمر يؤيده المسؤول في مكتب المعلومات السعودي نائل الجبير، الذي يقول إن «سعودة سوق العمل تهدف، أساساً، إلى الحد من بطالة السعوديين»، تفادياً، على الأرجح، لأن يتحولوا إلى متطرفين ناقمين على النظام.
بالأرقام
يشير تقرير لوكالة الاستخبارات المركزية، صدر في ,2006 الى أن عدد سكان دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي الست يبلغ 35 مليون نسمة، بينهم نحو 13 مليونا (37 في المئة) من العمال الأجانب وأسرهم.
ففي البحرين 235 ألف عامل أجنبي في مقابل 453 ألف مواطن، فيما يوجد في الكويت نحو مليون ونصف مليون عامل أجنبي في مقابل مليون مواطن، وفي قطر تشير التقديرات إلى أن 80 في المئة من السكان، البالغ عددهم 860 ألف نسمة، هم من العمال الأجانب، وكذلك الأمر في الإمارات حيث تشكل العمالة الأجنبية نسبة 75 في المئة من السكان، وعددهم خمسة ملايين، بينما يوجد في السعودية 5.5 ملايين عامل أجنبي في مقابل 21 مليون ونصف مليون مواطن، في حين تضمّ سلطنة عمان 577 ألف عامل أجنبي في مقابل 2.54 مليون مواطن.
وقد تبدو «الشكوى» التي أسرّ بها سائق سيارة أجرة بحريني لـ«السفير» خير دليل عن الوضع العمالي في دول الخليج عموما، حيث قال منتقداً حكومته «تستطيع زيارة أي دولة خليجية ولن ترى مواطناً يعمل... إلا في البحرين»!
هل يشمل نظام العمالة جميع الأجانب؟
يجيب القنصل الكويتي في لبنان جابر الصباح، رداً على سؤال لـ«السفير» إيجاباً، موضحاً أن جميع الأجانب، «عرباً كانوا أم آسيويين أم غربيين»، عليهم أن «يجدوا كفيلاً لهم إن أرادوا العمل في الكويت، وشروط عملهم موضحة في الاتفاقية بين الكفيل والمكفول».
إلا أن الصحافية في «سان بترسبورغ تايمز» سوزان مارتن، التي عملت في السعودية، تقول إن «تجارب العمال، المنتمين إلى دول العالم الأول كالأميركيين، غالباً ما تكون مربحة وممتعة، في الخليج، في حين أن تجارب العمال المتحدرين من الدول الفقيرة تنتهي غالباً بأن تكون تجارب وعود غير مكتملة».
وتوضح مارتن أن مشكلة العمال الأجانب الفقراء تكمن في أنهم غير قادرين على دفع تكاليف الشكاوى التي قد يتقدّمون بها، على خلاف العمال الغربيين، فضلاً على أن سفارات بلدانهم غالباً ما تكون غير فاعلة بشكل كافٍ لحماية رعاياها، مشيرة، في الوقت عينه، إلى أن «الهند، مثلاً، تمنع نساءها من العمل في منازل الخليجيين».
إلا أن المؤلف انديرز جيريشو ينقل، في كتابه «السعودية: خارج القانون والنظام الدولي» عن الاسكتلندي كايث كارمايكل الذي اعتقل في السعودية بين 1981 و,1984 لأنه تشاجر مع أحد أفراد العائلة المالكة، قوله «إن ممثلاً عن السفارة البريطانية، التي التزمت الصمت طيلة فترة اعتقاله»، قال له بعد 84 يوماً من اعتقاله: «كان عليك أن تتذكر.. نحن من يحتاج إليهم».
إذاً مشكلة مَن هي؟
تعدد الأمينة العامة للجمعية البحرينية لحقوق الإنسان سبيكة النجار أسباباً للمشاكل التي تعاني منها العمالة الأجنبية في الخليج، مثل ضعف آليات الشكاوى، وغياب آليات الحماية الدولية، وغياب الدور الفاعل للسفارات.
وتختص وزارات العمل في الخليج بتلقي الشكاوى العمالية والعمل على حلها ودياً بين الكفيل والمكفول. إلا أن جهل العمال بتلك الآلية وخوفهم من خسارة وظائفهم، يجعلانهم يحجمون عن الشكوى إلا في الحالات القصوى، كما أن دوائر الشكاوى العمالية لا تملك أي سلطة قانونية لإجبار الكفيل على إنصاف عماله، لذا ففي حال عدم التوصل لحل مرض بين الطرفين، تحول القضية إلى المحاكم، التي غالباً ما تنتهي بترحيل المكفول إلى موطنه.
الدولة محل الكفيل؟
أوصت مؤتمرات دولية ودراسات خاصة وحكومية، أُجريت مؤخراً، بإلغاء نظام الكفالة. وبدأت بعض الحكومات الخليجية، في تفعيل برنامج جديد للعمل يحد من زيادة حجم العمالة الوافدة، أُطلقت عليها مسميات مثل: السعودة والبحرنة والعمننة والتكويت، لمواجهة ظاهرة البطالة المحلية.
كما طلبت دول خليجية، مثل الكويت، من الخبير في منظمة العمل الدولية مانولو أبيلا، إيجاد بدائل لنظام الكفيل، فاقترح وضع سقف للعمالة الوافدة، وربط الإنتاج باستخدام تكنولوجيا الأداء مما يسهم في تعديل التركيبة السكانية، ويعمل على إنتاج خدمات جيدة.
تخفيف القيود أو تشديدها
[ الإمارات سنت قانوناً، في ,2006 يلزم الكفيل بمنح مكفوله راحة لمدة ساعتين ونصف عند الظهيرة خلال شهري تموز وآب، حماية له من أشعة الشمس اللاذعة.
[ أقر البرلمان البحريني في ,2006 قانونا يعطي للعامل الأجنبي الحق بالانتقال إلى عمل آخر من دون الرجوع لكفيله، مع اشتراط إنهائه لمدة العقد المبينة بينه وبين كفيله الأول.
[ أقرت البحرين في حزيران 2007 قانوناً يحظر على العمال الأجانب الحصول على رخصة قيادة، في مسعى للتخفيف من زحمة السير.
[ أعلن وزير الدفاع والطيران السعودي الأمير سلطان في ,2000 أن بلاده تنوي إلغاء نظام الكفالة، «لكن طريقة إلغائه ستصدر قريبًا»، في خطوة تهدف لتسهيل انضمام المملكة إلى اتفاقيات التجارة الحرة.
[ منحت وزارة العمل الإماراتية، في ,2007 العامل الأجنبي حق الانتقال إلى كفيل آخر، إذا ثبت أن الكفيل الأصلي انتهك عمداً حقوق العامل.
[ لا يوجد في دول الخليج حتى الآن نظام الحد الأدنى للأجور.
[ القوانين الكويتية تلزم رب العمل بفتح حساب مصرفي لمكفوله، ودفع راتب شهري له، حفاظاً لحقوق المكفول من أي تأخير في دفع الرواتب.
[ رفض وكيل وزارة العمل البحريني عبد الرحمن آل خليفة تحديد حد أدنى للأجور، لأنه لا يمكن «المساواة بين البحرينيين والأجانب».
[ قطر والكويت والبحرين تسمح بتشكيل نقابات عمالية، إلا أن السعودية والإمارات لا تسمحان بذلك
"السفير"
http://www.arraee.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22809

Sponsor tries to stop house maid from getting hospital treatment

2007-09-11T19:14:00.000+03:00

So I get a phone call from a Philipino Lady named Josephine, she says she's at Mubarak Hospital and has been there for more than 2 weeks, she was admitted for severe stomach ache which turned out to be kidney stones. The hospital didn't treat her because her sponsor refused to pay for her treatment and refused to be responsible for her and went as far as stopping any treatment so that he wouldn't have to pay for her, the hospital didn't want to be responsible either. The woman was in so much pain and was confused and just wanted to go home at this point. All the hospital needed to do was to have her sign a form saying she is responsible for herself, it didn't need to take our organization to tell them that. Also, how dare the sponsor stop this lady's treatment... another great example of how sponsorship is modern slavery. Josephine has since been well cared for.

أنشاء شركة مساهمة لاستقدام العمالة كبديل لإلغاء الكفيل

2007-08-21T15:20:00.000+03:00

http://www.alqabas.com.kw/Final/NewspaperWebsite/NewspaperPublic/ArticlePage.aspx?ArticleID=306396

أنشاء شركة مساهمة لاستقدام العمالة كبديل لإلغاء الكفيل

تتزايد الحاجة إلى تحسين صورة الكويت إمام المنظمات الدولية والجهات المطالبة بحقوق الانسان لا سيما بعد تصاعد الانتقادات فيما يخص المتاجرة في الإقامات وما ترتبت من مشكلات جسيمة للعمالة الوافدة وللبلاد
أيضا فضلا عن انتشار العمالة الهامشية الزائدة عن حاجة المؤسسات الأهلية وارتفاع الخلافات بينهم وبين الكفيل.
وقد خلصت الدراسات ومنها دراسة وزارة الشئون الاجتماعية والعمل والدراسات التي قامت بها جمعية العمل الاجتماعي الكويتية (دراسة مشكلات العمالة الوافدة بالقطاع الأهلي ودراسة العمالة المنزلية في المجتمع الكويتي) إلى إنشاء شركة حكومية مساهمة تستقدم العمالة على كفالتها ويتكون مجلس إدارتها من وزارات الشئون الاجتماعية والعمل ، الداخلية ، التجارة إضافة إلى غرفة التجارة والصناعة واتحاد العمالة ومؤسسات المجتمع المدني ذات الصلة.
تعريف نظام الكفيل
نظام الكفيل لا يتعدى كونه نظام توظيف للعمالة الوافدة وهو ما أقرته دراسة منظمة العمل الدولية عندما أشارت إليه بكونه آلية مؤسسة اجتماعية تنظم تدفق وتعيين العمالة الوافدة في الكويت.
واجبات الكفيل
لقد تم تحديد واجبات الكفيل ( صاحب العمل) في قانون العمل في القطاع الأهلي رقم 38 لسنة 1964 والقوانين المعدلة له، لكن هناك قانونا أخر أشار إلى المسؤولية الواقعة على الكفيل باعتباره المسئول على استقدام العمالة إلى البلاد ومنحها الإقامة بناء على طلبة .
مزايا إلغاء الكفيل
- القضاء على تجارة التأشيرات .
- معالجة الخلل في تركيبة العمالة الوافدة.
- الحد من مشاكل التي تواجه العمالة الوافدة.
- عدم الحاجة إلى تحويل عامل من كفيل إلى أخر.
- تخفيف العبء الإداري على الجهات الحكومية المعنية .
واقترحت الدراسات ومنها دراسة جمعية العمل الاجتماعي الكويتية بعض الإصلاحات ومنها :
- يتم الاحتفاظ بنظام الكفالة بشكل مبدئي.
- يستمر العمال الوافدون في الحضور بموجب تأشيرات محدودة المدة.
- حظر التجارة في التأشيرات .
- يحتفظ العمال بجوازات سفرهم.
- يقوم العمال بتوقيع العقود ( التي تحدد الأجور ).
- تقوم الحكومة بدراسات منتظمة للأجور وظروف العمل .
- التوسع في حماية قانون العمل لتشمل العمالة المنزلية.
ايجابيات المشروع
يقضي المشروع المقترح على العديد من السلبيات الحالية، تجارة البشر وتجارة التأشيرات، إعادة توازن التركيبة السكانية، التقليل من المشاكل العمالية والمنازعات، سهولة ومرونة انتقال العمال من صاحب العمل لأخر فور انتهاء مدة العقد.
شركة مساهمة
تقوم الشركة المساهمة باستقدام العمالة على كفالتها بناء على الطلب المقدم من صاحب العمل وفق الخطوات التالية :
1- تقوم وزارة الشئون الاجتماعية بفتح ملف لتقدير العمالة التي يحتاج لها صاحب العمل.
2- يتقدم صاحب العمل إلى الشركة بطلب يبين فيه عدد العمالة.
3- تقوم الشركة باستقدام العمالة التي تراها مناسبة للوظيفة على كفالتها.

BASHAR AL SAYEGH AND JASSIM AL QAMES HARASSED AND ATTACKED BY SECRET POLICE IN KUWAIT

2007-08-19T21:18:00.000+03:00

A very unfortunate event happened yesterday, A young Kuwaiti who started the website http://www.alommah.org/home/ has been taken in by the secret police along with Jassim Al Qames who has nothing to do with the website but Both guys work for 'Al-Jareeda Newspaper'. Al-Sayegh was escorted by secret police from 'Al-Jareda' headquarters and Jassem was doing his journalistic duties by taking photographs of the detaining, he was then attacked and dragged with Bashar. Bashar was detained because of a comment written about the Amir of Kuwait, Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, on his website's forum by an annonymous person, it was deleted by Bashar because of its inappropriateness but he was 15 minutes late deleting it, the police held him accountable even after it was deleted. As for Jassim he was released but beaten severely and blind folded and forced to use his fingerprint as signature to a document he couldn't read because of the blindfolds.

I refuse to think of our government and its civilized constitution as a police state, especially with many mistakes made in the 30s and 70s and 80s! and especially after the absolutely incredible support received during the invasion of Kuwait by the people.... but they make it hard not to think of them that way.

I, Bibi Nasser Al-Sabah am against the detaining and torturing of Jassim Al Qames and Bashar Al-Sayegh.

Updates:

According to Bashar, he was not attacked by the secret police. Jassem was the only victim.
http://www.alqabas.com.kw/Final/NewspaperWebsite/NewspaperPublic/ArticlePage.aspx?ArticleID=306637

انهالت على رأسها ضربا حتى فارقت الحياة

2007-08-12T12:16:00.000+03:00

انهالت على رأسها ضربا حتى فارقت الحياة
مواطنة تقتل خادمتها الآسيوية في المهبولة
عدد القراء: 811
12/08/2007 أقدمت مواطنة على قتل خادمة آسيوية بضربها على رأسها بعصا غليظة حتى فارقت الحياة امس في منطقة المهبولة.مصدر أمني قال ان عمليات وزارة الداخلية تلقت بلاغا من احد المواطنين يفيد بعثوره على خادمة متوفاة في حمام منزله وعلى اثر ذلك هرعت قوة من الدوريات والمباحث والادلة الجنائية الى مكان الحادث، حيث اكد الطبيب الشرعي ان الفحوصات الاولية تؤكد وجود شبهة جنائية.واضاف المصدر ان المواطنة وزوجها المواطن اخضعوا للتحقيق، حيث اكد الزوج في التحقيق ان خادمته تعاني من مرض واثناء جلوسه في صالة المنزل افتقدها، وبعد البحث عنها عثر على جثتها داخل الحمام، واما الزوجة فقد اختلف كلامها وتضارب مع ما قاله الزوج، اذ اكدت انها لدى عودتها الى المنزل وجدت الخادمة ملقاة في الحمام، وبعد التحقيق المكثف معها اعترفت الزوجة بأنها هي التي قتلت الخادمة بعد ضربها بعصا على الرأس، مما ادى الى وفاتها في الحال، وسجلت قضية وجريمة قتل ولا تزال التحقيقات مستمرة.

http://www.alqabas.com.kw/Final/NewspaperWebsite/NewspaperPublic/ArticlePage.aspx?most=1&ArticleID=303969

This mentality is well worth the fight

2007-08-12T02:27:00.000+03:00

offmyhead said...
those maids you pay to take care of your children and sundry are untouchable in their country. they're worth nothing where they come from. they're better off getting raped here then they are at their own country. anyway, the earn a decent living and provide money to their families back home. your losing the war.

I received this comment as a reply to this post http://q8sws.blogspot.com/2007/06/they-say-i-am-fighting-losing-battle.html

Thought i'd share it and use it as an example of what kind of mentalities we're dealing with in this issue, In the future, such comments will be rejected.

Unwanted babies at Al-Sabah Maternity Hospital

2007-08-10T15:55:00.000+03:00

Al-Sabah Hospital's Maternity ward is full of unwanted children, their mothers deliver them and run away leaving those children to be brought up without a family. In these cases, usually they are handed over to the Ministry of labour and Social Affairs orphanage, but the orphanage is overcrowded and it refuses to take in more children so these babies stay at the maternity ward and are left there for years without any identification and are given names by the nurses of the ward. Some of these children's mothers are labour expats who run after delivery but most belong to Kuwait mothers who were impregnated by their boyfriends or raped by a family member.

s.w.s is trying to find a solution to this problem, some members think that the children of non-kuwaitis should be handed over to the embassy of the country the mother belonged to, others feel that the orphange should be forced to take them in. What do you think?

Parliament must pass new labor law for the sake of Kuwait

2007-08-01T15:40:00.000+03:00

This is the current labor law in Kuwait (sorry I only have the Arabic version, if there is an English version, please pass it on). Let’s hope the parliament passes the new labor law so we can say “Ma’a Salamah!” to this one. I don’t have a copy of the new law but I understand is has strict guidelines on working hours and minimum wages, also is not very lenient towards sponsors. The new law is a tiny step towards reform, hopefully with that we can move forward to get rid of sponsorship visas so to prevent future problems with human trafficking.

Al-Watan's Insensitivity

2007-07-25T11:59:00.000+03:00

http://www.alwatan.com.kw/default.aspx?pageId=55

Such A crude, rude and backward way of dealing with the issue of domestic labour.

Its basically the stories of nannies in both "Liberal" and "Islamic" households that both want salary increases or else, one will kill the boss's son and the other will commit suicide.

The sad part is that this cartoon is an attack on political groups at the expense of those poor domestic workers. The fact that some domestic labour do commit suicide, and some do violent acts against the children of the families, is not by any means comical, not for the labourers and especially not for the sponsors.

Inshalla, Al Watan can gain a sensitivity streak and use their ivy league backgrounds when dealing with the ethics of such issues.

A Sad Story, Jleeb Shyoukh.

2007-07-22T15:10:00.000+03:00

Jleeb Shyoukh, for those of you who didn't know, is a residential area that has been turned into housing for labour expats by Kuwaiti residents in Jleeb. Now, it sounds glamourous but unfortunately it's far from it. The owners of the houses try to get as much cash from their homes by renting spaces to 70 people per house. You have homes that don't have enough space for people so the owners decided to build in the rooftops of their houses to get the extra cash and without the municipality's permission, so all the electricity and water has to be passed through from the house which puts the whole area at risk and especially to those living on the rooftops with wires exposed.

What has been done to stop this? Nothing. If anything it became a popular business amongst those who lived in the area so most of the people there moved out and started renting their homes, now maybe only 4 or 5 homes are lived in by locals.

Human Rights Violations:
1. 1. Small rooms shared by more than 20 people.
2. Because most homes have built illegal extensions to the house, the government does not provide services, including electricity, trash collecting, water supply and so on.
3. Crime sky rocketed in the past couple of years because Jleeb has become a haven for small mafias, so many labour expats (the non mafias) are vulnerable to theft or other abuses.

Last week I met a young man with a big plan, his name is Nasser Al-Barghash.
His plan? reconstructing Jleeb Shyoukh, Nasser,along with his friend and partner Modhi Al-Othman decided to work on a massive urban planning research project that offers the best solutions on how to turn this town around into a modern urban destination with a convention center, exhibition hall, mall, hospital and other services but most importantly a huge labour housing project that fits the international labour standards.

Why Jleeb Shyoukh? Jleeb Shyoukh, is located between Kuwait Airport and Jaber Stadium, both those places are prime locations as Jleeb Shyoukh does not serve them aesthetically nor does it provide any service to those locations including shopping, parking, parks, hospitals, hotels, convention centers etc.

Nasser and Modhi took Arwa Al-Wogayan (Kuwaiti journalist) and I to see first had what Jleeb Shyoukh looks like. It was absolutely pitiful, it's in such poor shape that even the poorest little villages in India look like paradise in comparison. The only thing I noticed was the spirit of these labour expats, they definately would much rather live in a horrendous atmosphere than be degraded in a palace. Let's think about that.

Note: Nasser and Modhi's idea for this project is purely altruistic, they want to present it to the government of Kuwait as a gratuitous gesture. This is what we need in Kuwait, young Philanthropists.

The following are 2 articles by Arwa Al-Wogayan

جليب الشيوخ.. مدينة المستقبل 13/07/2007 كلنا يعرف منطقة جليب الشيوخ كمنطقة تعيسة مليئة بأوكار الدعارة والمخالفات والتجاوزات سواء في المباني او غيرها، وهي كذلك بالفعل، ولكن هل تعلمون انه من الممكن ان تكون جليب الشيوخ هي مدينة المستقبل ونحن عنها غافلون؟اجتهد شاب وشابة لا يرغبان في أي فائدة مادية او حتى معنوية، ولكن لحرصهما على الكويت وحبهما لها قاما بدراسة مفصلة عن اهمية المنطقة مع تقديم السبل لتطويرها وجعلها مدينة المستقبل، موقع منطقة جليب الشيوخ موقع استراتيجي ممتاز فهو ما بين مطار الكويت الدولي واستاد جابر، الحلول التقليدية معروفة وهي ازالة المخالفات وضبط المخالفين ولكنها لا تبدو حلولا جذرية لمنطقة تستطيع ان تكون محطة جذب، الحل الامثل هو ان يتم تقسيم المنطقة الى اربع مناطق وتقسم كالآتي (مدينة الاعمال والحي المالي، المنطقة التجارية، المنطقة الصحية، منطقة المؤتمرات والمعارض). كبر حجم المنطقة يؤهلها لتكون منطقة جاذبة للاستثمار الاجنبي وذلك بسبب قربها من المطار، اما عن تزويدها بمراكز صحية ضخمة فهو مطلب كمركز للتأهيل الطبيعي وذلك لحاجتنا له في الكويت بالاضافة الى مركز للاطفال لعدم وجود مركز فعلي لهم عدا بيت عبدالله الذي لم ينته بعد، السؤال بعد ذلك كيف يتم ذلك؟ الافكار المقدمة كثيرة اهمها ان يتم طرح مزايدة للمناطق الاربع على القطاع الخاص وتكون نظام 'بي. او. تي' لكن بقوانين خاصة تضمن الربحية للقطاع الخاص والفائدة للدولة وان تتم اعادة فرز وتنظيم المنطقة، مع مخطط الشوارع بالكامل بالاضافة الى اعطاء فرصة للشركات الاجنبية للمشاركة، قد يتساءل البعض ما الفائدة من هذا المشروع؟الفائدة كبيرة اهمها ان تكون مدينة المستقبل الجديدة في الكويت وستتيح فرص عمل كثيرة في الكثير من المجالات وهذا ما نحتاجه نظرا للبطالة المنتشرة اخيرا وثانيا عوائد فرق السعر في الارض المعروضة للقطاع الخاص وارتفاع اسعار الاراضي القريبة من المنطقة مما سينعش العقار في مناطق غير المتعارف عليها، يذكر انه تم عرض المشروع على شخصيات كثيرة وكبيرة في الدولة لاقت الترحيب من دون التشجيع الفعلي، بالكلام دون الفعل وهنا اطالب الشركات والمؤسسات بالالتفات لهذه المنطقة والنظر للربح الكبير الذي قد تحققه لهم وتحققه لنا كشعب نحلم بمدينة المستقبل.* * *قفلة:من حبنا لها قاعدين نوفر لكن يحز في الخاطر ان نقوم كأفراد بالترشيد لنجد مؤسسات الدولة تستهلك الكهرباء من أنوار وتكييف بشكل فاحش في المساء وهي الفترة التي لا يعمل بها موظف الحكومة، فلم هذا التبذير ان كنا في حالة حرجة من مسألة الكهرباء؟التي هي مشكلة مخجلة في بلد غني مثل الكويت!

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من أروى الوقيان الكويت - 21 - 7 (كونا) -- تكفي رحلة الى منطقة جليب الشيوخ لتبعث الحسرة والألم منطقة سمعنا عنها كثيرا واذا رأتها العين اختلف الأمر اختلافا كليا فالانتهاكات لم تعد مقتصرة على المباني بل امتدت الى الانسانية.ترى أكوام القمامة أمامك وخلفك مهملة دون أن يتتخلص منها والمناطق السكنية تعج بكل التجاوزات ناهيك عن وجود أسواق للأطعمة والسمك وسط البيوت محفوفة بجميع أنواع التلوث من قمامة ومياه مجار اضافة الى ممارسات غير أخلاقية لها أماكن يعرفها سكان المنطقة .الرحلة الى هناك كفيلة بأن تجعل نظرتك للمستقبل قاتمة ان كانت هناك منطقة بهذه التجاوزات البيئية والأخلاقية والانسانية .وأشارت الناشطة في القضايا الانسانية موضي العثمان في تصريح لوكالة الأنباء الكويتية (كونا) الى أنها اعدت هي وزميلها ناصر البرقش دراسة حول كيفية معالجة هذا الوضع المأساوي .وقالت العثمان ان هناك أنواعا من المخالفات البيئية المنتشرة في المنطقة بسبب انتشار القمامة ومياه المجاري في أماكن للسكن حيث تاع فيها الأطعمة وتوجد مخالفات سكنية وانسانية امتدت الى درجة أن بعض الأشخاص يعيشون في حافلة أو في غرفة مليئة بثلة من البشر ناهيك عن التجاوزات في كثير من المباني والمواقف الموجودة في عمارات سكنية.وقالت العثمان ان المنطقة تمثل الكويت خاصة للقادمين من المطار فمن المؤسف أن تكون واجهة البلاد مليئة بكل هذه التجاوزات والاهمال والمناظر المزعجة للعين قبل كل شيء.من جهته قال اقترح البرقش ل (كونا) فكرة اجراء دراسة لمنطقة جليب الشيوخ بدأت من الاهتمام بالعمالة التي تعيش في مكبات النفاية والذين يعيشون بدون اقامات .وأضاف البرقش انه اكتشف أن "أغلبهم يقطنون منطقة جليب الشويخ ويعيشون في بيوت مبنية بدون أنظمة للسلامة ما حفزنا لاجراء دراسة ووضع حلول لمشاكلها "لاسيما أن المنطقة تقع بموقع ممتاز متمثل بين مطار الكويت واستاد جابر والجامعة الجديدة وكلها تمثل البلاد بشكل أو بآخر.وأوضح أن وجود المنطقة بهذه التجاوزات الصارخة هو شيء باعث على الخجل مشيرا الى أن الحل يكمن في أن تقسم الى أربعة أقسام الأولى مدينة الأعمال والحي المالي والثانية منطقة تجارية والثالثة منطقة المعارض والمؤتمرات والرابعة منطقة المراكز الصحية.وأشار الى امكانية استغلال المنطقة كمساندة لجاراتها فتصبح مؤهلة لمسافري الترانزيت ليستطعوا التسوق والتبضع فيها ويجعل قسم منها مواقف للسيارات لاستاد جابر وربطها بقطار يوصل أصحاب الناس الى سياراتهم .وأضافت العثمان أن هذا المشروع ان طبق فله مميزات أهمها توفير فرص عمل لعدد كبير من الشباب والشابات وستكون منطقة جاذبة للاستثمار الأجنبي وسترتفع أسعار الأراضي في المنطقة وسينتعش العقار في المناطق المجاورة أيضا.أما البرقش قال ان العمالة في الكويت يجب أن تقطن في مدن عمالية وهي فكرة مطبقة وموجودة في معظم الدول المجاورة ولم تطبق حتى اليوم في الكويت مع الأسف ما جعل الكثير منهم يتكدسون بشكل كبير في جليب الشيوخ.وشكر البرقش والعثمان باهتمام عضو المجلس البلدي عبدالعزيز الشايجي لتزويدهم بجميع المعلومات التي احتاجوها لاعداد هذه الدراسة وبدور وزير الاشغال ووزير الدولة لشؤون البلدية موسى الصراف في التشجيع وبخبرته العريقة في هذا المجال .(النهاية) أ خ و / ا ع كونا211235 جمت يول 07

Following up with Al-ABraj Cleaning Company

2007-07-20T15:39:00.000+03:00

تم الاجتماع بمقر الجمعية اليوم الثلاثاء تاريخ 17/7/2007 الساعة الواحد ظهرا
الحضور:
رئيسة الجمعية
نائب
أمين السر
السيد / سمير الناصر السيد / عبدا لعزيز الرفاعي ممثلين عن شركة الأبراج
تم مناقشة المشاكل التي يعاني منها عمالتهم الوافدة وأهمها تأخر صرف الراتب وتدني الراتب عن العقد المبرم وما يصرف من فبل المناقصة وتسكين العمال بقرف لا تتسع لأعداهم ورد السيد سمير علي جميع الأسئلة المقدمة من فبل الجمعية نتيجة الشكاوي العمالية وابدي استعداه للتعاون والحرص علي معاقبة مسئولين العمال لديهم إذا ارتكبوا أي مخالفات تجاه العمالة
متمثلة بارغمهم علي قيام لساعات عمل إضافية بدون اجر اوجبا رهم علي القيام بإعمال مخالفة للقانون لمصالحهم وابدي بعض المقترحات علي القانون الحالي .
1 ضرورة إلزام الشركات المناقصة بالتنفيذ بالحد الادني لأجر العامل
2 تحديد مواصفات السكن وموقعة لتناسب وطبيعة هذه العمالة واحتياجاتها
3 انشاء مدن عمالية متكاملة بجميع خدماتها
4ضرورة تخفيض الضمان الصحي
كما ابدي استعداده لحضور ورعاية جميع الندوات والمؤتمرات التي تعقدها الجمعية بخصوص الحملة الإعلامية لهذه الظاهرة وبالختام شكره رئيسة الجمعية والحضور ووعده بنقل هذه المقترحات للجهات الرسمية المختصة .