Kuwait Society for Human Rights to provide free legal ‘aid’ for labor cases

Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KSHR) has contracted with attorneys to attend legal proceedings in labor courts and directly represent the workers and defend their cases for free, local media reported quoting Chairman of the board of Kuwait Society for Human Rights Mr Khalid Al-Ajmi.

According to report, Al-Ajmi pointed out that workers who file complaints with the Public Authority For Manpower (PAM) and are then referred to the judiciary will be provided with lawyers to defend their cases if they can’t afford to pay for a lawyer in case that they receive monthly salary not more than 100 Kuwaiti dinar or if the complaint requires direct legal representation in courts.

KSHR will also receive some cases through the hotline service if the case involves direct violation of the workers’ rights.

Al-Ajmi indicated that the really high costs of hiring attorneys hinder ordinary workers from obtaining their rights, not to mention the prolonged litigation that can take several years, both for citizens or migrant workers. The residency period of some complainants ends during this long period, and they become unable to renew their residency. So, they resort to violate the conditions of residency which force them not to seek judicial redress, or are being arbitrarily deported without getting their rights.

This service activity is part of the “Support” Project that aims to provide legal protection for migrant workers in Kuwait.

KSHR started implementing this activity at the beginning of 2018, while continuing receive the inquiries and complaints of workers at the hotline number 22215150 both in Arabic and English and also through the e-platform: http://togetherkw.org.