KUWAIT CITY: Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged Kuwait to improve its treatment of foreign domestic workers and stateless Arabs a day after its rights record was examined by the United Nations.
"Kuwait should accept recommendations on protecting the rights of migrant domestic workers and stateless persons made… by United Nations member countries," HRW said in a statement.
The oil-rich emirate’s human rights record was examined on Wednesday by the UN Human Rights Council as part of its Universal Periodic Review.
More than 660,000 domestic workers are employed in Kuwait, making up over one-third of the foreign workforce, and around 120,000 stateless Arabs, locally known as bidoon, also live in the country, according to HRW.
Domestic workers are unable to escape abusive employers or to seek redress even though workloads often exceed 15 hours a day, and there are frequent complaints of unpaid salaries, said the rights watchdog.
"Kuwait has presented contractual clauses as adequate guarantees for domestic worker rights," Joe Stork, HRW deputy Middle East director, said.
"In reality, these guarantees are not being enforced, and domestic workers are deliberately excluded from labor protections under the law," he said.
In its presentation to the UN council, Kuwait described bidoon, which it says account for 93,000 people, as "illegal residents" seeking Kuwaiti citizenship to enjoy benefits, the New York-based group said.
"However, many bidoon families have loved in Kuwait for generations, since the founding of the Kuwaiti state, but failed to apply for nationality at that time," HRW said. They were denied legal recourse.
Stateless Arabs cannot get essential documents such as marriage licenses and birth and death certificates, making it difficult, and even impossible, for them to own property or legally establish a family, HRW said.
