MODERN SLAVERY
IN KUWAIT

Modern slavery is a tragic story in Kuwait. We the people of the kindest hearts have become nothing more than slave traders and owners. Who of us has no housemaid from ether gender? Who from us has never raised their voice or even given them a dry attitude if only for once? Let alone the beatings, shouting, threats of deportation, humiliating, degrading, punishing, under wage, under fed, thrown out, locked up, untreated, over worked, and even unpaid. I know many of us can not comprehend these things, but there are those who do. Why should you care? Because, it is happening in your homes, if not then in your streets, neighborhoods, towns, cities, and most importantly your own country. We are all victims of our own greed. We have given other foreigners from other parts of the world the means to treat house workers with the same disgrace and harshness. Read this and do not be ashamed of what we have done, it is only human to err, and our poor workers will do the divine part of forgiveness. The main issues are good and bad examples of events, what policies and laws should be passed, and how we can force change through reasoning. Also try to remember as Muslims that happen to be Kuwaiti we do not just seek a brighter tomorrow but a better today and no one should cry coming to Kuwait, they should cry saying goodbye.
I only have one male worker who takes care of my house. I am treating him like a guest in my house. How can my family and I manage? Well, we just returned from a very long trip, where we had no maids or drivers or gardeners or babysitters, and learn from our experience. When we got back I got one male house taker who also cleans my room once every day and brings me food 3 times a day. He was in Kuwait four years prior to my arrival, where he obtain a driving license “lucky me”. To take him from his “previous owner” I had to pay him 300KD, sad to say he was a relative of mine. The reason behind this was a number of things, first and foremost was to make up for any ANY wrong doing that I might have emitted from my younger years against those who feed us when we were hungry, prepare our best clothing, care for us when we are sick, woke us up for school, drove us to school, friends, hospitals, and many more places. Secondly, I am a proud Muslim who has a beating human heart and a friend to common sense. The house worker was given a car to get us food and other services. A room with a T.V., satellite, DVD, and most importantly an A.C. you know “air condition”. He only needs to be home if my family was home without me. Though he takes Saturdays off sometimes and Sundays on others, he gets to go to his family and friends everyday and there not even in the same city, after all if I need him all I have to do is call. I also save in a bank account that I open for him 10KD every month which he will have access to when he no longer wants to work here, in other words “a pension” and he gets cash salary which he spends on his own accord. Now was that too hard? No, and I know he didn’t piss or spit in my food, I know I can trust him around my things “nothing missing or gone lost here”, I also sleep better with a clear conscious. I am no Dalai Lama, but it is considerably easier to be good with people than to feel good insulting them.
Many of you might be living in an apartment, which does not mean that house workers should get anything less in their rooms, especially an air conditioner. A brand new T.V. costs 24KD, a receiver 25 KD, and some privacy prices less. Over working is not only morally and ethically wrong, it is also a sin. Not paying a worker on time or delaying their payment is also a sin, as the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) taught us that we MUST pay a worker before his/her (worker) sweat dries. Should I also mention how it is ethically wrong not to pay a workers salary especially when you have a car(s), cell phone(s), home phone(s), computer(s), and last but not least A PAYING JOB. How would you feel if the government missed one just one salary payment, what would happen to your cell phone bill, loan payments, mortgage, car payment, and most importantly your family? What words would you use to describe that moment if you were asked to be put them in words? Not too many words though, because working in Kuwait is considerably easier than it is working any other place “for Kuwaitis, Americans, and Brit’s of course”. It gets ridicules if you work in a governmental institute, where the primary consumption is not paper, its tea.
Parliament must push for laws that protect the house workers and government must implement these laws because it is Kuwait not the people who will be criticized in the end. As was the case in 2006 when the United Nations passed sanctions against Kuwait for it’s deep and semi solo involvement in human trafficking, this time the American President Bush vetoed the sanctions, but we will not have Bush as president for ever. What if next year Obama wins the elections, do you think he will veto the sanctions? The same sanctions that made him what he is today. Not saying the there will be an Indian running for Kuwait parliament, as there are no Kuwaitis running for the Indian parliament. Even if it was the case from how hard I have seen housemaids work and the true pain they endure to give their families a better chance in life I might just give them a vote, might get something accomplished in this country. Also we have been going to them thousands of years before they have been coming to us.
New laws that give workers the right to say no, leave a job if they are insulted, humiliated, or persecuted. Rules and regulations passed to insure the safety of those working in our homes and private properties. What should house workers be paid and how many hours they should work must be enforced by civil and criminal courts punishable by penalties, compensation and jail. Any inhumane acts taken against house workers or any worker at that must be swiftly, severely, and surely punished. These are the ways to build a better society, a society that respects others and does not discriminate against foreigners. There or those who consider south asian country workers as stupid! How can that be when they where civilized five thousand years before Islam ever came? If we as Arabs are so proud that we have invented the number zero let us not take credit from those that invented the numbers one to nine.
Shame that I had to write this paper to my own, but it must be read. The truth is in every Kuwaiti heart, which is why I don’t need to hear it from you. All you have to do is agree silently if need be. There are so many sad stories the memory space on this computer would not be sufficient. What Kuwaitis call “visa traders” is only a softer word for slave traders. I know that many might have a Hollywood stereotypical image of a black person being whipped and lashed into work to constitute a slave. That does not mean what is going on here is not slavery. How many of you pay more for their car every month than they do their worker? How many of you have a larger cell phone bill than a house workers salary? How many bought shoes willingly and smiling that also happen to cost more than your own house worker, a human? When you die can you really tell Allah that you have been remotely fair.
It will be extremely helpful if you can support this movement written by a proud Kuwaiti who only loves his people too much. Make copies send it to the next person, act kindly towards who work for you, put your self in their shoes, and don’t be proud of your self until you become a better Muslim.
WRITTEN
BY
A.S.