KUWAIT CITY, Sept 10: Kuwait said on Wednesday it was considering alternatives to its widely criticised employee sponsor system after violent protests by foreign workers demanding better conditions.

“We are considering alternatives for the sponsor system to meet international labour standards,” Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Bader al-Duwaila told an emergency session of parliament.

Under the system, any foreign worker in Kuwait must be sponsored by a Kuwaiti employer, thus keeping expatriates at the mercy of their bosses. Other oil-rich Gulf states apply the same system.

The emergency session was called by about 35 MPs in the 50-member parliament to debate violent protests by thousands of Bangladeshi workers in July to demand better pay and working conditions. Around 1,000 workers were later deported.

On Monday, parliament’s human rights committee had called for a review of the sponsorship system to try to stop employers from abusing hundreds of thousands of foreign labourers.

Kuwait is home to 2.35 million foreigners, more than two-thirds of them Asians, and over one million native citizens.

Parliament unanimously passed non-binding recommendations calling for a “complete ban” on the entry of foreign workers into Kuwait for five years with the exception of highly skilled labour.

It also called for limiting to five years the maximum duration “unskilled foreign workers can stay” in the emirate and for slapping a life-time ban on recruiting manpower abroad on local companies that abuse workers.

The call for suspending the entry of all but highly skilled labour was not expected to be followed by any concrete government action, since Kuwait heavily depends on the services of unskilled workers.

However, suggestions for a time-limit on the residency of foreigners have also been made in other Gulf Arab states, where expatriates make up more than a third of the population of about 35 million.

Duwaila told parliament the government was studying a proposal to set up a public recruiting company in a bid to end so-called visa trading under which employers demand hefty sums in exchange for residence permits.

He acknowledged that senior ministry officials were involved in visa trading, adding that a number had been referred to a special interior ministry department for investigation.

The minister said he has also referred more than 60 local companies for investigation for failing to pay labourers or not providing adequate accommodation.

MPs blasted the government for failing to clamp down on firms and employers who abuse foreign workers and demanded they be publicly identified.

Several MPs claimed that highly influential people were behind rampant visa trading and challenged the government to bring them to book.

Following the unrest, the government introduced a mininum monthly wage of 40 dinars (150 dollars) for cleaners and 70 dinars (261 dollars) for security guards.

However, the decision applies only to those working for companies on government contracts. Duwaila said the government was considering expanding it to all. The average monthly pay for Kuwaiti citizens is around 1,000 dinars (3,740 dollars).

The minister said the government had submitted to parliament a bill to combat human trafficking.—AFP