E-platform aims to educate migrant workers in Kuwait

KSHR launches platform for 1st time in Gulf

KUWAIT CITY, June 13: Khalid Al Ajmi, Chairman of Kuwait Society for Human Rights, announced the launch of an electronic platform in five languages as a contribution to educating migrant workers in Kuwait on their legal rights through cartoons and pictures, as well as direct inquiry through the platform or hotline.

He pointed out that the platform is a precedent in the Gulf States, and it consists of a website and an application for mobiles that work mainly to address the ill-treatments suffered by the migrant workers through several mechanisms that contribute to the education of workers on their rights and duties, and provide legal support for them as well as to monitor and document the abuses they are subjected to and then to publish them in periodic reports.

Al Ajmi also indicated that the platform’s languages are Arabic, English, Hindi, Filipino and Urdu. He said, “The site is linked to the application through a secure electronic database that stores information and data and protects the confidentiality of the users. It also provides lawyers and legal advisers with the task of responding to all of the workers’ inquiries and complaints, as it allows them to submit their labor complaints of violations of their rights at work.

The platform aims to educate migrant workers in Kuwait on the rights guaranteed by the local laws, and international covenants and treaties as well as to provide legal advice in a language appropriate to them in a way that contributes to the protection of their rights.

That is in addition to raising awareness of the importance of supporting workers’ rights and providing a positive model for the active participation of civil society in supporting workers’ rights.

Studied

It contains a special section for inquiries via instant messaging or direct communication, as well as a complaints section that will be studied and legalized. It also includes a section of legal knowledge that includes education on the texts and forms of national legislation and the texts of international conventions related to the rights of migrant workers. And it has complete information on organizations and embassies that accept workers’ complaints and the procedures and type of assistance provided by these agencies.

The project is one of the outputs of the “Together” project to educate migrant workers on their rights in Kuwait, implemented by Kuwait Society in cooperation with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kuwait. The project “Together ... to educate migrant workers on their rights in Kuwait” marks a new milestone for the role of civil society organizations in educating migrant workers on their rights in Kuwait by using modern technology that commensurate with the requirements of the current phase as well as the large size of labor in Kuwait.

The project aims at alleviating the violations suffered by migrant workers resulting mainly from the lack of awareness by workers of their rights, especially domestic workers. This is because there is no translation of the articles of the law, as well as the absence of those who provide them with consultation in a language that they can understand and the absence of interpreters when they are submitting complaints of violations to the competent authorities.