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Seminar focusing on problems of Lankan housemaids in Kuwait

by Mohammed Rasooldeen

Housemaids refusing to work for their sponsors, non payment of salaries by their employers and a lack of proper coordination between the agents in Kuwait and their counterparts in Sri Lanka were some of the major issues identified at a seminar held in Kuwait on Saturday.

The programme which was organised by the Sri Lankan embassy in Kuwait to discuss the problems faced by the Lankan domestic aides in Kuwait was held at the Labour Union Hall located in the Kuwaiti capital. Some 200,000 Sri Lankans are working in Kuwait.

The seminar was attended by the people who were responsible in recruiting, managing and arbitrating the Sri Lankan domestic aides who are coming into the state of Kuwait. In addition to the embassy staff and the local recruiting agents, Major Mish Al Mutairi from the Domestic Labour office at the Ministry of Interior was also present on a special invitation from the Sri Lankan mission here.

Sri Lankan ambassador Abdul Razack Mohammed Mansoor said that this was the first time such a platform has been made to discuss the problems faced by runaway housemaids whose number has been on the increase in the recent years due to a lack of understanding between the employer and the employees.

Mansoor further said that the mission did organize the seminar to look after the welfare of the Sri Lankan housemaids in the host country.

Major Mutairi expressed hope that the seminar will bridge the gap between the employer and the sponsors with necessary understanding with the local agents.

The local agents disclaimed responsibility from the problem of non-payment of wages to the housemaids by their employers. They further claimed that such cases should be referred to the respective police stations and not to the recruiting agents.

Another agent lamented that some of the housemaids came to Kuwait as if they were on a picnic and forget the fact that they were on an employment contract, and want to return home as soon as they land in Kuwait, he added. These housemaids should be sent to Kuwait after a comprehensive orientation program so that they will fit into the cultural environment of the host country, he added.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Mansoor has sent out appeals to the Kuwait Zakat House, Asian Muslim Association and the Governorate of Kuwait requesting them to assist Sri Lanka help the recent flood victims in the country.

The Kuwaiti Ambassador in colombo, Abdu Abullah Al Sanouisi who is currently in Kuwait is also assisting the Sri Lankan ambassador in procuring assistance for the flood victims from the charitable organizations.

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