Starting in July, foreign nationals employed in Kuwaiti’s private sector will now be required to obtain an exit visa in order to leave the country. Kuwait joins a growing list of Gulf nations requiring exit visas for migrant workers. In order to receive an exit visa, foreign workers in the private sector will need permission from their employers. This new requirement is a monumental regression of worker’s rights in Kuwait and has serious implications for the future of human rights within the country.
Kuwait uses the controversial kafala system in order to sponsor migrants looking to work in Kuwait. The kafala system ties a migrant’s right to be in a country with the employer. This means that employers are essentially the sole entity that decides if a migrant worker should be allowed into the country. This obviously places all the power of the worker-employer relationship firmly with the employer. This sponsorship program is rife with abuse.
This newest development only adds to the imbalance found in the relationship between migrant worker and sponsor and undos any sort of progress made in affording migrant workers freedom of movement. Employers would often confiscate migrant workers passports as a means of controlling the migrant worker by restricting their ability to travel. Kuwaiti authorities passed Ministry Resolution 143/A/2010 in an effort to stop this practice. Under the law, it is now illegal for employers to confiscate the passports of their migrant workers, though some employers still do despite the ban. The exit visa requirement effectively reverses the miniscule progress made in the protection of migrant worker’s right to travel. Instead of confiscating passports, employers can now simply refuse to give their migrant workforce permission to leave the country.
Kuwaiti authorities should immediately reverse the need for exit visas and the governments of the migrant workers’ home countries should pressure Kuwaiti authorities until they strike this requirement from the lawbook. The addition of exit visas only seeks to perpetuate the imbalance of power between employers and their migrant workers. Migrants, yet again, find themselves disadvantaged and abused while simply trying to find work to provide for their families.