Statement Calling for an End to Deportations and Protection of the Labor Rights of Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in Kuwait
The Seoul-Gyeonggi Incheon Migrants Trade Union of South Korea (MTU) expresses grave concern over the mass deportation of Bangladeshi workers by the Kuwaiti government in response to their protests against unjust working conditions. The actions of the Kuwaiti government represent disregard for the just demands of migrant workers to fair wages and treatment and repression of their rights as workers to organize and strike, rights guaranteed in UN and ILO conventions.
Last week, thousands of Bangladeshi and other migrant workers went on strike and took to the streets in protest against underpayment and non-payment of wages, deceptive recruiting practices, falsified contracts and inhumane working conditions. While the government of Kuwait has acknowledge the abuses against migrant workers and set a minimum wage for menial workers on government contracts at 40 dinar ($151), it has respond to the strike by arresting and deporting hundreds of those who participated. According to the Reuters India, as many as 1,000 or more have been deported with plans to deport hundreds more.
The Kuwaiti government has said the Bangladeshi workers were engaged in illegal strike activities. Yet Kuwait is known to have consistently practiced repressive labor policies in violation of workers’ rights to organize and strike. In addition, it has done nothing while Kuwaiti employers and contractors continue to violate the rights of migrant workers. About 200,000 Bangladeshis work in Kuwait as cleaners or in other menial jobs. They are routinely paid only a fraction of the wages stated in their original contract- as low as 10 dinar ($37)/month when contracts state their wages at 50$ dinar ($187) and are forced to live and work in substandard conditions.
As a union formed for and by migrant workers, MTU wishes to stress the right of all workers to organize and strike to improve their working conditions whether they are in their home countries or not. We see the deportation of Bangladeshi workers from Kuwait as an act of repression against this right. We therefore call on the Kuwait government to halt the deportations immediately and ensure that all the migrant workers involved be paid the backwages owed to them. We also call on the Kuwaiti government to uphold its commitment to investigating and eliminating violations of migrant workers rights by employers and contractors. Further, we call on the Bangladeshi Embassy to respond to complaints of abuses by recruiters and employers and to take an active role in responding to the repression against Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait.
August 9, 2008
Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union
The Seoul-Gyeonggi Incheon Migrants Trade Union of South Korea (MTU) expresses grave concern over the mass deportation of Bangladeshi workers by the Kuwaiti government in response to their protests against unjust working conditions. The actions of the Kuwaiti government represent disregard for the just demands of migrant workers to fair wages and treatment and repression of their rights as workers to organize and strike, rights guaranteed in UN and ILO conventions.
Last week, thousands of Bangladeshi and other migrant workers went on strike and took to the streets in protest against underpayment and non-payment of wages, deceptive recruiting practices, falsified contracts and inhumane working conditions. While the government of Kuwait has acknowledge the abuses against migrant workers and set a minimum wage for menial workers on government contracts at 40 dinar ($151), it has respond to the strike by arresting and deporting hundreds of those who participated. According to the Reuters India, as many as 1,000 or more have been deported with plans to deport hundreds more.
The Kuwaiti government has said the Bangladeshi workers were engaged in illegal strike activities. Yet Kuwait is known to have consistently practiced repressive labor policies in violation of workers’ rights to organize and strike. In addition, it has done nothing while Kuwaiti employers and contractors continue to violate the rights of migrant workers. About 200,000 Bangladeshis work in Kuwait as cleaners or in other menial jobs. They are routinely paid only a fraction of the wages stated in their original contract- as low as 10 dinar ($37)/month when contracts state their wages at 50$ dinar ($187) and are forced to live and work in substandard conditions.
As a union formed for and by migrant workers, MTU wishes to stress the right of all workers to organize and strike to improve their working conditions whether they are in their home countries or not. We see the deportation of Bangladeshi workers from Kuwait as an act of repression against this right. We therefore call on the Kuwait government to halt the deportations immediately and ensure that all the migrant workers involved be paid the backwages owed to them. We also call on the Kuwaiti government to uphold its commitment to investigating and eliminating violations of migrant workers rights by employers and contractors. Further, we call on the Bangladeshi Embassy to respond to complaints of abuses by recruiters and employers and to take an active role in responding to the repression against Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait.
August 9, 2008
Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union
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