'It Will Help Cut Visa Trading'
KUWAIT CITY, March 13
IN this week's online poll, the Arab Times asked people what they think would happen if the sponsorship system in Kuwait is ended, which is currently a hotly debated topic in the state.
46% of the voters welcomed it saying it would mean more freedom to switch jobs. Talking to respondents, we found that most expatriates are touched by a twinge of apprehension when it comes to changing jobs, especially when it is on their initiative. "Because it's like rubbing your sponsor on the wrong side as he would feel betrayed."
However, they clarified that it's not fear, "only delicacy." With changes in labor law many expatriates have been emboldened to hunt for new and better jobs. A small minority said they fear their Kafeels as they have clout in the society and can get them into trouble if they choose to.
It is this sense of fear that gets exorcised when kafeel system is bid adieu to, respondents noted.
24 % of voters felt that scrapping the sponsor system will cut down visa trading. When speaking to people, the Arab Times found that although many expatriates have benefited from visa trading, the practice is generally equated to human trafficking and hence something despised.
Visa trading is the prime cause for the large number of illegal residents in the country, many of who are living a miserable life. "Thousands of maids in Kuwait have been exploited, not just by sponsors, but also recruitment agents and sex racketeers mostly from their own countries, because of visa trading."
By scrapping sponsorship system, all these negative things will be more controlled in the society, they opined.
About 17% of votes were skeptical of the outcome of canceling the system. "At the end of the day, you are still under your boss," they observed.
People who spoke to us on this point said that it's more about the attitude of the people and a culture of consequence, than the system. "The laws are in place about the rights of the employees; however, a great number of employees are still suffering from gross human rights violations. If your boss is influential, and he decides to be nasty with you, there's little that you can do using law." That was a small percentage of the respondents.
A tiny minority, 8 %, had an interesting take on the subject. They thought losing a sponsor would go against the interests of the employees, "because it takes away the chance for an employee to use his sponsor's wasta and get things done in Kuwait."
6% of the voters viewed it from the point of view of the sponsor, "who will be less inclined to hire people, because of the fear that he will now have less control over them. Why would you hire an employee, train him and invest in him when you know that he will hop to greener pastures at the slightest opportunity."
© Arab Times 2013
