How fair is deportation of Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait?
Shamsul Huq Zahid | Monday, 4 August 2008
A bearded man in his late fifties clad in a lungi and a shirt was among nearly 500 Bangladeshi workers deported until last Saturday by the Kuwaiti authorities following the recent violent demonstrations by Asian workers to protest low wages and poor working conditions.
That he was wearing a lungi and a shirt was nothing unusual. But it looked rather strange that the Bangladeshi, who paid a substantial amount to buy a ticket to enter the so-called workers' paradise, had on his right foot a white plastic sandal and on the left a black leather shoe.
The poor worker was no joker of a circus party. He was not given enough time to take his belongings or cash before he was taken to the airport for deportation. Like him, many more Bangladeshi workers were picked up and whisked off by the Kuwait police to the airport for deportation. Many workers bore on their bodies the marks of injury inflicted on them by the Kuwaiti police.
It is hard to imagine the plight of those who have been deported or are in the process of deportation. These poor workers spent a sum between Tk 250,000 and Tk 300,000 each for taking up cleaning jobs that workers from other Asian countries avoid. Each of them were promised to pay Kuwaiti dinar 40 a month. But the Kuwaiti contractors who hired them paid a paltry 8.0 dinar at the end of the month, an amount not enough even to meet the expenditure on food of an individual worker in a country where inflation has soared to more than 11 per cent in recent months. But most Bangladeshi workers employed in the Middle Eastern countries are required to send money back home every month to sustain their families and repay the money they have borrowed to meet the demands of the manpower agents. All the deportees broke into tears on arrival at the Zia international airport out of frustration and uncertainty over their future.
To be honest, the Bangladeshis have the unique ability to weather odds, natural and manmade. Many Indians would have committed suicide every year had they been cheated like hundreds of Bangladeshis by unscrupulous manpower agents and made paupers. Hopefully, this time too, those who have been deported from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia would overcome the difficulties and start their life anew.
But the question do the Bangladeshi deserve this kind of treatment from the Kuwaiti authorities? Evidences say otherwise.
The Kuwait Times has reported that the Kuwaiti government has acknowledged that abuses by some employers forced the Asian workers to resort to strike. "The most notable violations were delayed payments, lack of suitable housing and salary deductions", said Kuwaiti Justice Minister Hussein Al-Huraiti, adding "illegitimate practices by these firms and shortcomings in law enforcement by the relevant bodies have led to grave violations to workers' rights". The Kuwaiti authorities, reportedly, decided to take these unscrupulous employers into task.
Moreover, an opinion survey carried out by the Kuwait Times, showed that 68 per cent of the respondents favoured hiking of the wages of the expatriate workers, 26 per cent wanted clamp down on unscrupulous employers and only 5.0 per cent supported deportation as a means to resolve the current labour problem in that country.
If the employers are at fault and the government agencies concerned remain indifferent to their duties and responsibilities, why should be the workers punished for protesting the maltreatment? What kind of justice is this?
Moreover, there were Indians and Pakistanis taking part in violent demonstration. Then why should the Bangladeshis be singled out and deported?
True, the striking workers had taken law in their own hands by resorting to violence. But the Kuwaiti authorities before clamping on the workers or deporting them should have taken into consideration the desperation of the workers. It is most likely that the workers who took part in demonstration were aware of the harsh actions they could be subjected to. But they actually were left with no option since their pleas made to the officials of the companies concerned to pay higher wages and ensure better working environment had fallen to deaf ears.
It is most likely the recent demonstration by the expatriate workers, dominated by the Bangladeshis, would be taken as an ominous sign by the Gulf countries which are not used to this kind of incident. Kings and Ameers of these oil-rich countries are scared of any kind of violence, popular or otherwise. They tend to consider such events as threats to their monarchy or autocratic rule.
Thus, Bangladeshi workers who provide the much-needed lifeline to the country's economy through remittances, which might hit the record $ 10 billion mark this year, could be the most likely target of these governments. The Kuwaiti government, according to Kuwaiti newspapers, has decided not to recruit workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan for their propensity to violence and try to hire workers from other Asian countries. But the problem the Middle Eastern countries are likely to face is that the types of jobs that Bangladeshis are doing are unlikely to be picked by the workers of other Asian countries. On this score, the services of the Bangladeshi workers might turn out to be difficult to replace.
The foreign office, though belatedly, has initiated a flurry of diplomatic yet damage-control measures. For any reduction in the flow of remittances by the expatriate Bangladeshis would make the job of maintaining a comfortable balance of payments situation rather tough.
The deported expatriates on their arrival at the ZIA have alleged indifference on the part of the Bangladesh embassy officials in Kuwait to their long-standing problems. Some of them even have demanded resignation of the Bangladesh ambassador in Kuwait. The foreign ministry does need to explain to the public the events in Kuwait and the role of Bangladeshi diplomats in that country.
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That he was wearing a lungi and a shirt was nothing unusual. But it looked rather strange that the Bangladeshi, who paid a substantial amount to buy a ticket to enter the so-called workers' paradise, had on his right foot a white plastic sandal and on the left a black leather shoe.
The poor worker was no joker of a circus party. He was not given enough time to take his belongings or cash before he was taken to the airport for deportation. Like him, many more Bangladeshi workers were picked up and whisked off by the Kuwait police to the airport for deportation. Many workers bore on their bodies the marks of injury inflicted on them by the Kuwaiti police.
It is hard to imagine the plight of those who have been deported or are in the process of deportation. These poor workers spent a sum between Tk 250,000 and Tk 300,000 each for taking up cleaning jobs that workers from other Asian countries avoid. Each of them were promised to pay Kuwaiti dinar 40 a month. But the Kuwaiti contractors who hired them paid a paltry 8.0 dinar at the end of the month, an amount not enough even to meet the expenditure on food of an individual worker in a country where inflation has soared to more than 11 per cent in recent months. But most Bangladeshi workers employed in the Middle Eastern countries are required to send money back home every month to sustain their families and repay the money they have borrowed to meet the demands of the manpower agents. All the deportees broke into tears on arrival at the Zia international airport out of frustration and uncertainty over their future.
To be honest, the Bangladeshis have the unique ability to weather odds, natural and manmade. Many Indians would have committed suicide every year had they been cheated like hundreds of Bangladeshis by unscrupulous manpower agents and made paupers. Hopefully, this time too, those who have been deported from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia would overcome the difficulties and start their life anew.
But the question do the Bangladeshi deserve this kind of treatment from the Kuwaiti authorities? Evidences say otherwise.
The Kuwait Times has reported that the Kuwaiti government has acknowledged that abuses by some employers forced the Asian workers to resort to strike. "The most notable violations were delayed payments, lack of suitable housing and salary deductions", said Kuwaiti Justice Minister Hussein Al-Huraiti, adding "illegitimate practices by these firms and shortcomings in law enforcement by the relevant bodies have led to grave violations to workers' rights". The Kuwaiti authorities, reportedly, decided to take these unscrupulous employers into task.
Moreover, an opinion survey carried out by the Kuwait Times, showed that 68 per cent of the respondents favoured hiking of the wages of the expatriate workers, 26 per cent wanted clamp down on unscrupulous employers and only 5.0 per cent supported deportation as a means to resolve the current labour problem in that country.
If the employers are at fault and the government agencies concerned remain indifferent to their duties and responsibilities, why should be the workers punished for protesting the maltreatment? What kind of justice is this?
Moreover, there were Indians and Pakistanis taking part in violent demonstration. Then why should the Bangladeshis be singled out and deported?
True, the striking workers had taken law in their own hands by resorting to violence. But the Kuwaiti authorities before clamping on the workers or deporting them should have taken into consideration the desperation of the workers. It is most likely that the workers who took part in demonstration were aware of the harsh actions they could be subjected to. But they actually were left with no option since their pleas made to the officials of the companies concerned to pay higher wages and ensure better working environment had fallen to deaf ears.
It is most likely the recent demonstration by the expatriate workers, dominated by the Bangladeshis, would be taken as an ominous sign by the Gulf countries which are not used to this kind of incident. Kings and Ameers of these oil-rich countries are scared of any kind of violence, popular or otherwise. They tend to consider such events as threats to their monarchy or autocratic rule.
Thus, Bangladeshi workers who provide the much-needed lifeline to the country's economy through remittances, which might hit the record $ 10 billion mark this year, could be the most likely target of these governments. The Kuwaiti government, according to Kuwaiti newspapers, has decided not to recruit workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan for their propensity to violence and try to hire workers from other Asian countries. But the problem the Middle Eastern countries are likely to face is that the types of jobs that Bangladeshis are doing are unlikely to be picked by the workers of other Asian countries. On this score, the services of the Bangladeshi workers might turn out to be difficult to replace.
The foreign office, though belatedly, has initiated a flurry of diplomatic yet damage-control measures. For any reduction in the flow of remittances by the expatriate Bangladeshis would make the job of maintaining a comfortable balance of payments situation rather tough.
The deported expatriates on their arrival at the ZIA have alleged indifference on the part of the Bangladesh embassy officials in Kuwait to their long-standing problems. Some of them even have demanded resignation of the Bangladesh ambassador in Kuwait. The foreign ministry does need to explain to the public the events in Kuwait and the role of Bangladeshi diplomats in that country.
[email protected]