Kuwait set to get tough on foreign worker abuse

Kuwait's parliament is set to vote on a bill that lays down tough penalties for employers who abuse the rights of foreign workers.

The move follows protests last year by hundreds of mainly Bangladeshi workers who demanded better pay and living conditions and said they could not live on their salaries after employers deducted housing, meal and health care costs.

Deputies are due to vote on a draft next week that will limit work hours for foreign workers while requiring employers to provide healthcare or face fines or jail terms, Kuwait Times reported on Wednesday.

But it will not replace a sponsorship system under which foreign workers, who comprise two-thirds of the OPEC country's population of 3.2 million, must be sponsored by Kuwaitis.

Ali Al-Baghli, head of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, told the paper: "Unfortunately, the draft overlooks important issues like the sponsorship system and minimum wage for domestic helpers."

Women from Asian countries including Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines work as maids and nannies across the Gulf, and many complain of rights abuses, the paper reported.

Following violent strikes by Asians, Kuwait last year set a minimum wage of 40 dinars ($138) for cleaners and 70 dinars for civilian security staff.

In June 2008, a US State Department report on forced labour and the sex trade placed Kuwait in the "worst offender" category, alongside fellow Gulf states Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.