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Kuwait

Horrendous Living Conditions

Found this album on Flickr with pictures of living conditions of some workers here in Kuwait. Looking at the building from outside you would think they were half way being demolished but in reality people actually live in them. [Pictures]

45 replies on “Horrendous Living Conditions”

hey Mark..i think its better u dont write posts of this nature. Im sure you often do it in the interest of creating awareness among us preveliged ones..but it always winds up up being a big argument by self proclaimed righteous people who supposedly thing they know what dictates right and wrong from their ivory towers.

P. S Did u happen to hear about someone who jumped off a buidling behind GBK. happened a while back it seems…there were cops all over the place.

finally unblocked! what is he trying to stir up exactly!? I mean it’s a fact and some people out there don’t have proper roofs over them and yes there’s no need to bring up this subject again but till when??

Most of the major news papers covered this issue already.

You should go check out Jaleeb, somebody should make a documentary about it.

Why are the faces of the occupants censored?

I lived in Jleeb for 18 years before I left Kuwait. Albaz is right. There was a documentary on BBC, and it showed pictures all over Jleeb. The Hasawi part of Jleeb is scary!

As a Kuwaiti and I am reading some of your comments (regardless of your backgrounds) we should consider the fact such treatment to workers is what got us black listed in the first place.

If you have a problem, you do not bury your head in the sand, you fix what you screwed up. That means better wages, rights, and living conditions for workers.

The hippocracy needs to stop.

I don’t agree with those who have said that Mark should stop talking about such matters, because there is no reason not to. If he wants to talk about it, that’s his right, and just because it has been brought up before doesn’t mean it can’t anymore.

Having said that, i think it is also important to have some perspective on the matter, and know the whole story before coming out and arguing one way or the other.

Are these people being forced to live in these places?

Are they given their paychecks? And once they get their money are they choosing to live in such places?

Maybe these places as compared to their homes are normal, maybe better, maybe worse.

I have been to India before and visited an area where these living accommodations shown in the post are better than the average house.

I’m not saying that these places are fine or anything like that, but this is how it is. Like others said, some people don’t even have houses, so don’t have food or water, so perspective is needed.

The better question is, if you were an employer, would you let your employees live in such a place, knowing that its a total dump, but also knowing that on the whole the employees are earning more (while living in houses of a similar standard to what they live in) than they would usually do in their own countries?

Or do you have an obligation to have a minimum standard of living accommodations/wages, even though there is no explicit law in your country in that regard?

I totally agree that they shouldn’t be living in such conditions. However, if you go back and see where they were living in their country, this is “paradise” to them.

And yeah, one more thing, what ever you give them here they won’t have enough. Period!

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone like Anony came in and posted a comment like that.

He’s right, it’s important that these people come to Kuwait and be treated the way they would be back home, just so the shock of returning to a shitty little corrugated hut isn’t too much for them to bear. Thank God there are such thoughtful employers in Kuwait who ensure that the living conditions aren’t too nice for their workers, to provide a better sense of home.

Happening all over the world. Illegal Mexican workers in the US, Sweatshop workers in China, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Korea, and many other countries.

It’s been happening a long time.

LOL @ Mike.

I agree that it’s wrong, but the description of the album is simply commercial.

“The Arabic word for Slave is abd. This is the title that the workers are called in Arabic.”

“I had to go undercover to get these photos. Taking photos of these forced labor camps is strictly forbidden. Outsiders are not allowed in.”

“The only way I was able to get these photos was by taking a big risk, bribery, and by physically sneaking into the buildings.
If I was caught I could of been imprisoned.”

suspic: Where did you read that??

Nasser: speaking of mexicans, i got this great book called Border Film Project https://www.amazon.com/Border-Film-Project-Minutemen-U-S-Mexico/dp/0810993155 where 500 disposable cameras were given out, half to the minute men guarding the border and half to mexicans trying to cross the border illegally. When the cameras were given back they took the pictures and put them in a book. Some very nice stuff showing both sides of the story or should I say fence.

Suspic: Yeah. The areas that are really bad are the work camps out in the desert. This one doesn’t look that bad, comparatively. The poor conditions are probably due to the Indian/Bangla/Paki supervisor pocketing money originally intended to improve the living conditions. If there’s onet hing I’ve learned over here, it’s that noone will screw over an Indian quite as thoroughly as another Indian.

Mike, I agree that it’s deeply messed up. I’ve seen first hand how contracts are made, how the workers are dealt with in terms of their accomodation and paychecks.

My only note was towards the dramatic description making it seem like a Steven Segal movie.

I get that he needs to sell the cause by the way, just an innocent observation.

Every Expats regardless Indian/ Bangali/ Paki who live in Kuwait are here for the Kuwait Currency Power against their individual countries Since it makes alot of money back home , I do understand its people choice they make in terms of been Happy or been happy Monetary Wise ?

I believe there should be a law on Minmium wages to every labour sector in Kuwait , They Are still employer who provide 40 kd a month for their worker, which is less than peanuts too ..

Change has to be made !!!

let me re – quote myself to all those who are finding it difficult to comprehend a simple statement in english ..”but it always winds up being a big argument by self proclaimed righteous people who supposedly thing they know what dictates right and wrong from their ivory towers.”

it has nothin to do with Guilt..! More to do with a sense of annoyance towards people who have no other work but sit and judge other people and their circumstances and their failure to address the real reasons behind such situations.

Having said that , its ur blog mark no one ever said that u CANT post something. I think my first statement itself implies that it was a suggestion.

Everyone knows about this and nothing will be done about it.
It is like children with cancer. Everyone is for it and sympathetic with it but very few do anything about it.

@sinner

I know these events do happen but that blog seems a bit exaggerated. Unless of course you can provide video footage?

I really think that if you can provide video footage of such events and show it to people maybe then they will do something.

To all you Kuwaitis who are Muslim, we are taught to stand up for the weak.

And just because that working in such harsh conditions is the only choice they have, does not give us the right to treat them in such manners.

@Nasser:

If everyone in the world does it, that does not mean it is ok for us to do it as well.

The posts on q8sws.blogspot are neither fake nor exaggerated. Get involved – find out for yourself if you don’t believe it.

also… it’s a very odd thing to say – well at least it’s better than their living conditions in India. I know Filipino Biologists who are working as gardeners here, and Indian Teachers who are maids here but the money promised to them is still more than back home. Of course when they get here they realise its all a scam.

Just because the phrase is common doesn’t make it right.

Sure some recruitment is done in poorer places. maybe even villages – but at least there you have your family and your surroundings are familiar. And even then, I’ve seen Indian villages. they arent that bad. Its not the same as a slum – which might be what some ppl would picture

I would urge you to find out more about the issue rather than speak from what you’ve heard others say.

People come here after being made promises and given certain ideas about what they will be getting. Then they are here, and they get none of it. And they dont leave because their passports arent with them. So leaving isn’t an option.

Once in a while social posts concerning animal cruelty, consumer infractions by corporations, environmental issues and such come across this blog, they should be welcomed not condemned, because we can help highlight issues that need to be amended.

Keep ’em coming, Mark.

Oh and another thing, if Mark ever feels the need to write about such ‘unpopular’ issues and doesn’t feel comfortable doing it here for whatever reason, he can join Hilaliya’s legion of ‘guest writers’ – a great group that includes Frankom, 4th Ring Road, Forzaq8, Zaydoun and many others.

My 2 cents here.

For someone to be living in a shit hole like this,,, he has a damn nice camera …

I am living in a decent place, but hell its been 2 months i am trying to buy a camera that takes such crisp photos like that !

I think “the typical” kuwaity house..is REALLY exaggerated with the size…SERIOUSLY a regular kwuaity house IS NOT THAT HUGE..that is a mansion and not A regular kuwaity house.. i think the person who posted the picture is KINDA not getting his FACTS right

As horrible as some of the photos are, I see that alot of it is trashed by previous/possibly current occupants. The kitchen was down right disgusting, as was the toilet and washroom. Don’t blame the owner for the mess. I put fault on some of the slobs that lived there and messed things up.

God Bless These Workers!

These workers should attempt to migrate illegally to the USA.

They will be given free food, education, healthcare, and a housing subsidy by Uncle Obama!

However, legal immigrant’s are on thier own and shall recieve nothing but a chance to work and make thier own way in the world!.

A group of friends and I made a film about the street cleaners in Kuwait in 2007. Do you know they sell their belongings to pay for the Agency fees? One guy we met paid around $10,000… His whole lifes savings. The salary he was promised was KD50, he gets just KD18!!! Actually its KD 20 but they charge him KD2 for his Iqama! They live in squalid conditions in Hasawi. 8 people in a room, 16 people using one bathroom. They get no choice in the matter, this is the accomodation provided to them by the employer.

And as for this living condition being better compared to their homes in their home country – thats bull shit! All the street cleaners we visited in Hasawi are from farm lands, and they have spacious homes.. with air to breath and rivers to swim in. They showed us pictures of thei home and family. The only reason they suffer with this is because they have no money left (they gave it all away to come here). So they cant just pick up and go back like others have suggested. They have to come up with the ticket money on their own.

Can you imagine living on KD18 a month in Kuwait? Sure, its an alright salary for someone from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, but compare that salary with the living expenses here. No wonder these people go into crime and begging.

For a rich country like Kuwait there sure as hell isnt enough being done for them. I’m not asking for much, just basic human dignity. Treat them like you treat the Filipino tea boys. They live in flats in Salmiya, 4 people to a 2 bedroom flat. Not like animals in a barn.

@ Ant Now you’re saying that Filipinos, Indians, and Bengalis are people just like Kuwaitis, Brits, and Americans. Are you insane?! People like you should be tossed out of Kuwait for saying such things!

I should be proud to say that my Company spends lot of money on the labours camp and we also get inspected from Ministry. Every year when they inspect they provide with check list which are not meeting the requirements and we fulfil it immediately.

Unfortunately as someone has mentioned these labours come from country like India selling money, land, jewels just for a meagre salary. Most of them come from Villages and due to industralisation and seasonal changes they are not able to make a decent life by agriculture. As they are not well educated they are lured to take up job overseas by any means. Once they get in the wrong hands and end up in these situations they cannot go back or complaint.

@ Mike , you mean to say Kuwaitis, brits and Americans are superior beings ? They were created with some thing else ? First of all even if they had bad working conditions back home, that’s because they live in a poor country but when they are working here they should be paid according to per capita income of the working country and not there home country. And if all those workers walked out of Kuwait, Arabs would be doing that same work.

What the picture essentially points out are the bad living conditions and poor wage for the workers in Kuwait. Its worse than slavery because as slaves were atleast pitied but there are some people here who talk like heartless beings with no feeling whatsoever.

Here is my Opinion, First of Hats of to Mark for at least keeping alive in our minds that such a thing exists in Kuwait. Like many people on this blog have mentioned before this topic has been brought up and been publicised to no end in the past. Has it made a difference ?? Obviously taking the pictures into account NO it has not. Second Many of us have forgotten that the men and women in the yellow, green, orange and blue overalls cleaning our streets, our public toilets and the floors of our brand spanking new flashy malls actually live in such squolar and filth. And now thanks to Mark and his blog we are reminded again. Sure we do our bit and hand over the ocassional ruba dianr to the guy brushing the street next to our car at the traffic light.
But is it enough?????

What must be done is that the Kuwaiti public who have voices that actually reach the ears of the men who roam the corridors of power in this country should cry out their outrage at this…….at how this reflects on them as a people… as a NATION. The sound should be so loud that it should shake the very foundations of this evil.

The perfect scenario should be that the these places be raided by the authorities and the owners of these companies be jailed. Their files for recruitement of manpower should be closed and black listed by the ministry of social affairs and labour for at least 10 years. The owners should not be able to start a new company under a new name at all during this time. Laws regarding minimum wage should be put forward and enforced and the same penalties should be enforced for defaulters.. The same defaulters need to be photographed and their pictures be put in the local dailes under the title of LOCAL SLUM LORD.

Only then and then only will the fatted evil doers wake up and take notice. Once they are forced to live like the workers that they have forced to live in filth will they realise the extent of their evil.

But this will never happen in a country where money is the name of the game and where most men who roam the corridors of power are supported by the very same fatted RICH evil doers.

The above is MY 02 cents …………

blah blah blah who cares, they have an embassy go and complain they will take care of their own people right ?

My dear bloggers, you should be inspired like no 43. Fubu

First of all Mark you have the right to bring such issues of awareness to peoples attention, yet you might do so less harshly.

Second I agree with no “42. SecurityAdviser” He seems to have some logical and fair solutions like the closing down of the false and bogus labor companies.

And third and most important:

A. Any Kuwaiti citizen would know that not all Kuwaitis live in a Mansion like that, maybe 30% do and thats something expats might not know.

B. Obviously the ruined house were the workers live in is an ABANDONED house, which is very commonly used by ILLEGAL WORKERS/ IMMIGRANTS and not by forced labor or workers.
If you go to Jeleeb el Shiyokh on the 6th Ring Road you will see things like that and in Khitan as well and Farwaniya

C. The usual story goes like this. The worker visa expire, company is broke, the sponsor fires them for whatever reasons etc, they are asked to leave the country and go to their embassy, yet they don’t. They chose to stay and sell perfumes in Kuwait city door to door office to office, and DVD movies in Salmiya same way. Then of course they cannot afford the rent and they take refuge in empty apartments and abandoned homes that are ready to be demolished and so on.

D. Things like this exist in many countries on the world. The the Mexican or the Latinos from Southern American Countries who fled in waves to the USA for the last 40 years. Allot of Them live like that in San Diego, LA, El Paso Texas and Del Rio Texas and much more of the Southern Sates in America. The Asian illegal immigrant in Uk and Canada. The Caucasus people in Russia “Aliens in their own country”. the Gypsies in many Eastern European countries. Chinese minority groups. The Thai workers in Japan the list goes on. No much has been done to change or address these issues. In the USA, the dishwashers and waiters and cooks and trash removers and trash truck drivers and the mexican farmers and the ones who bring the vegetables and fruits from the farm land to the fancy restaurants of NY, and LA, and Miami how do you think they live.

I think the comments on this board accurately reflect why we have this problem in the first place. Sami Ive been to these places – to put it plainly – you are WRONG! these are labour camps for completely legal workers.

And the fact that nearly every one got super defensive about the Kuwait house above everything else… really tells you about what’s wrong at the core here!

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