Al-Yousef: Amir Advised Opening Officials' Doors to Citizens

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef, confirmed that His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad, had recommended opening doors to citizens and directed the Public Authority for Manpower to allocate one day a week to receive them. Al-Yousef stated, “I challenge anyone to prove that I have violated the law or facilitated transactions through connections. Kuwait is the most important and enduring. His Highness emphasized the necessity of applying the law to everyone, including his own sons.”

Addressing company owners and their representatives during an open meeting held yesterday, Al-Yousef said, “The law will be applied to everyone. Work fairly, and no one will hold you accountable.”

During his second meeting with representatives of private sector companies to discuss the “Salary Recovery System: Protection for the Workforce,” he revealed that 10,000 companies operating in the private sector, with five or more employees registered under their files, had been reviewed for failing to pay their workers’ salaries for periods ranging from one to one and a half years. He noted that the injustice of non-payment of salaries had reached a serious level, extending even to outsourced labor in cooperative societies.

He added, “We now have a strict automated system that automatically suspends companies’ files in cases of irregular salary payments. This has led to a noticeable decline in labor strikes in Kuwait, which were previously caused by unpaid salaries, due to stringent procedures regarding salary disbursement and strict adherence to monthly payments.”

Al-Yousef affirmed that human trafficking, money laundering, and non-payment of salaries are among the key issues negatively affecting Kuwait’s rating by international organizations. He stressed that no country in the world treats its citizens as Kuwait does, highlighting the commitment to safeguarding the rights of expatriate workers, upholding values of compassion and care for them, and ensuring their salaries are paid just like those of national workers.

Al-Yousef said, “In the previous meeting, I warned about the dangers of ‘nominee arrangements’ for citizens and the involvement of some in money laundering. These cases have become numerous and increasing in the State Security Investigations.” He pointed out that some citizens are unaware that companies are registered under their names, receiving only small profit shares in return. For instance, one citizen is registered with a salary of 3,000 dinars but receives only 180 dinars monthly. He noted that such practices damage Kuwait’s reputation with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other international indicators.

Al-Yousef mentioned the seizure of a restaurant license registered under only one person, the owner’s son, with transaction amounts reaching 70 million dinars, in collaboration with two additional companies. He directed Manpower Authority officials to assess labor needs for everyone without discrimination, stressing, “Whoever violates the law will face severe punishment.” He added, “It is unacceptable that I train workers to be better, only for them to leave for another country.”

He indicated that the files of the violating establishment owner and all their licenses would be closed, not just the specific file in question.

Regarding government contracts, Al-Yousef revealed plans to study converting them into the labor market to benefit from them, and to study changing the status of domestic workers from Article 20 to Article 18.

He affirmed that in recent days, 300 delivery workers were deported for committing violations, urging company owners to select organized, experienced workers in the delivery sector. “Forget the previous chaos,” he said. “We must employ drivers trained in driving in their home countries. It is not permissible to employ delivery workers for 18 hours. Show compassion to foreigners,” he urged, adding that company owners should consider their living conditions and obligations.

For her part, the Director General of the Public Authority for Manpower, Rabab Al-Asimi, announced the suspension of the files of 10,000 companies from last September until today for failing to comply with paying their workers’ salaries.

She emphasized that irregular payment of workers’ wages is among the main causes of labor disputes, leading to strikes and protest sit-ins. She pointed out the necessity of paying workers’ salaries before the seventh day of the following month, and stressed that suspending the files of non-compliant companies would result in halting the disbursement of labor subsidies to citizens registered under those companies’ files. She stated that cash payments are permitted for only two months for newly arrived workers; any extension beyond that is firmly rejected. She added that workers will not be allowed to transfer to a new employer without valid reasons, and she has directed the Labor Relations Department accordingly.