KUWAIT CITY, Nov 22: Undersecretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Mohammad Al-Kandari recently inaugurated activities of the regional training program the International Organization for Migration organized at the United Nations building in Mishref for a team of trainers that specializes in the affairs of expatriate workers, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

In a speech delivered on behalf of the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi, Al-Kandari was delighted to have participated in the training course. He disclosed the ministry had taken part in many courses related to expatriate workers’ affairs because the category forms a large component of the Kuwaiti society.

The ministry believes the workers deserve empowerment and full rights to enable them perform their responsibilities as expected, he said.

He also noted that necessary reduction in their number has become inevitable in the Gulf Region, reiterating the government should reduce the number of expatriate workers by stipulating a specific percentage of this category of workforce in the country, seeing the need to restructure the population components.
He declared that Kuwait is among the countries that should embark on restructuring, in order that marginal workers would be reduced to 34 percent by 2014 to focus on the technical workers.

“The fact that expatriate workers form 90 percent of workers in the private sector indicates that the composition is defective, so we need to replace some of those workers with citizens,” he emphasized.
In his contribution, Dutch ambassador to Kuwait C.G.J Van Honk commended Kuwait for its consistent protection of human rights as regards international migration. He said Kuwait has been making initiatives to strengthen the protection of expatriate workers with the war against human trafficking, noting the country’s efforts to ensure cooperation with the relevant local and international organizations in that regard.

He stressed that society needs further awareness regarding human trafficking, considering the economic and security risks associated with this activity.

He added that over 22 million expatriate workers live and work in the GCC countries.

He explained the number increases by six percent annually, according to the human development report. He urged the GCC nations to device means to manage programs and approve regulations to ensure the safety and welfare of those workers.