Bless us with your silence

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IT IS VERY unfortunate to note a few months ago some people issued their racist call to harass the residents. This ominous call was not only for electoral purposes (to win the votes of citizens) but to undermine the spirit of professional stability of the resident or rather to be more precise the expatriate.

This expatriate then began to feel that his source of income was put at risk and therefore has taken some precautionary measures as some citizens do when they have the same feeling, perhaps because they are worried about the permanent privileges provided by the state.

I write this after a wise and honest resident told me that his colleagues had for the first time publicly talked about bribery, corruption, and commission arrest, and that they had the right to become corrupt, like others, as long as the process became “machined.”

Why should they be saved for a country where they do not feel secure in their jobs and threatened on any day of the danger of ending their contracts? I write this after a wise and honest resident who is involved in humanitarian work told me that his colleagues talked publicly for the first time about bribe, corruption, and commission and that they have the right to be corrupt, just like the others, as long as they are exposed to pressure because of unstudied resolutions. Why should they be honest in a country where they feel insecure? They do not feel secure where jobs are concerned and the danger of ending the contracts any time hangs over their head.

A senior consultant told me that an employee in his clinic urged him a few days ago to make more money illegally from his government job and showed him several ways to do it although he rejected the idea altogether. He sacked the worker after criticizing him, but the whole night he kept staring at the ceiling of his home as he lay in bed thinking about what he had heard and felt the pain creeping inside him because of the situation he found himself in.

Although he totally rejected the idea, he did not stop asking himself — in spite of his determination to turn his back on temptations to become rich overnight — what if the threats and demands to end the contracts of expatriates and impose various illegal and inhuman taxes and fees on them continued.

We can say we have built the walls around Kuwait to protect us from the invaders. With the blood of our fathers and forefathers, we saved this homeland from all evil, and with the efforts of sincere sons and by taking risks and with determination, provided a decent life for all before oil, but Kuwait of today is not the Kuwait of yesterday.

For many reasons, the Kuwait of today, despite his patriotism cannot alone undertake the task of building a modern state, defending it and help it continue its march of progress. A Kuwaiti needs an expatriate to provide his food, health, livelihood and other security.

The management of a homeland is not confined to building a wall or management of a bakery, because it is so complex. It is impossible to imagine the existence of a Kuwaiti without the support of an expatriate, at least to some degree, especially since Kuwaitis do not take up most of the important occupations and if they do, it is only about a six percent of them. Therefore, we must completely stop provoking the expatriates and address them with disrespectful phrases.

They are not dependent on us, most of them work in the private sector and did not put the burden on sponsors, but it is they who employ the foreigners because they really need them. Educate your sons in a new way, amend their approaches, improve their behavior, and get rid of the old customs and traditions that despise manual work, if this is done, the expatriates will leave voluntarily.

The government’s silence to the voices calling to end the services of expatriates is not the answer to our woes. The government must stand up to such voices and condemn them. The issue is related to national security and not to narrow personal and electoral interests. We are fully unable to cover our functional and service needs without the contribution of the expatriates, Arabs or others. Let the opponents bless us with their silence and be a little ashamed of themselves. If they have courage let them confront the visa traders instead of showing their might against ordinary people.

By Ahmed Al Sarraf

e-mail: [email protected]

This news has been read 13304 times!