The preventative measures against the coronavirus including the curfew and flight ban on 32 countries, has impacted many sectors in Kuwait. This is especially evident in the domestic worker recruitment sector, according to the head of the Kuwaiti Federation of Domestic Workers, Khaled Al Dakhan, who highlighted that the travel ban on 32 countries has contributed to the decline of the sector.
In addition, the economic decline in the sector due to the inability to continue operations have led to the forced shut down of many recruitment agencies, Al Anba reported. The travel ban has prohibited expats from 32 countries from entering Kuwait, therefore, many domestic workers who are in these countries, the majority from India, Philippines, and Bangladesh, are stranded abroad.
However, the problems started with the Philippines ban on sending nationals to the country after the murder of a Filipina domestic worker. “The decline of this sector was not all because of coronavirus, it happened at the beginning of the year when the Filipino president decided to ban domestic workers from coming to Kuwait,” Al Dakhan said.
In January, the Philippines banned the deployment of newly-hired workers to Kuwait, after an autopsy of Filipino domestic helper showed that she was sexually abused and then murdered by her employer.
“But then the COVID-19 pandemic happened and it put the entire sector in a state of complete paralysis as many of the recruitment agencies were closed for a long period,” Al Dakhan added.
Kuwait was placed under an extended curfew, from March 22 to August 30, with business activities suspended engendering large scale losses for many companies who couldn’t generate revenue.“The coronavirus pandemic has cast a shadow over the office owners and has pushed them towards bankruptcy,” Abdulaziz Al Ali, the Federation’s adviser and former president, told Al Anba.
The federation has called on the Public Authority for Manpower to save the recruitment agencies from bankruptcy. Many recruitment agency owners pointed out that they continued paying rent and salaries, although business was halted.
The ongoing shortage in the supply of domestic helpers for households is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, according to the Head of the Union for Owners of Recruitment Offices for Domestic Workers, Khaled Al Dokhnan.
He noted that repeated requests made to the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant entities, have failed to reinstate visas for domestic workers, and to open up the airport to flights from countries that are on a banned list, such as India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Nepal, from where the highest number of domestic helpers arrive.
Under the circumstances, the likelihood of resuming recruitment of domestic workers from abroad any time soon appears bleak, said the union head. Al-Dokhnan added that the number of domestic workers available for hiring has dwindled due to the absence of any recruitment from abroad for the last seven months and many of the workers in the country are currently on expired work contracts and wish to return to their countries.
The continued suspension of activity at domestic worker recruitment offices has led to a booming black market for household helpers. Taking advantage of the demand from clients and the lack of competition, unscrupulous brokers have been filling the supply void by providing domestic labor services illegally and at high prices. These brokers have been found to advertise their services on social media platforms and are offering African and Asian domestic workers for a price of KD 25 for a four-hour period, or KD 250 per month.