By Nawara Fattahova
KUWAIT: Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KSHR) realized foreign workers in Kuwait are facing many problems, especially those with a low level of education, which prompted it to launch a project called 'Together' to help migrant workers in Kuwait.
The Together project started in 2016 in cooperation with the Embassy of Netherlands in Kuwait. The first phase of the project focused on awareness and included publishing the Kuwait Labor Law in five languages - Arabic, English, Tagalog, Hindi and Urdu. It also included launching the Togetherkw.org platform and a hotline.
In 2018, the second phase of Together was launched in cooperation with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. This phase included practical support such as arranging legal services to defend and represent workers in their legal issues. This phase also included issuing guidelines in five languages.
The third phase of this project began on Sept 1, 2020 in cooperation with the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), and will conclude on Dec 31, 2021. This phase includes various activities such as the 'Friends of Migrants Group', which is being formed now.
"The goal of forming this group is to gather human rights and labor rights activists, especially lawyers, journalists, psychologists and other activists, or others interested in this issue, to provide consultations in their fields," Saleh Al-Hasan, Coordinator of the Friends of Migrants Group, told Kuwait Times.
"The lawyers in this group can make workers become aware of their rights. Psychologists can provide psychological consultations, while journalists and social media influencers can highlight their problems or publish awareness posts," he explained.
The hotline number is 22215150. "On calling this number, workers will get advice or consultations in five languages. We have received over 3,000 calls since January this year, while our annual target was 4,000, which means we will exceed our expectations by the end of this year," added Hasan. He concluded by saying that the support of their partners in every phase made it possible to pay the professionals that provide support to migrant workers.