21 Zimbabweans stuck in Kuwait
Summary
Date Reported: 17 Aug 2020
Location: Kuwait
Companies
Explomo Technical Services - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 125
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 29 - Mozambique , Military/weapons/security equipment: General , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 75 - Location unknown , Military/weapons/security equipment: General , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 21 - Zimbabwe , Military/weapons/security equipment: General , Gender not reported )Issues
Deaths , Right to Food , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Restricted mobility , Personal Health , Wage Theft , Freedom of MovementResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Resource Centre
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: The report states that the workers have appealed to both Kuwait and Zimbabwean embassies but had not yet received help. In June they staged a demonstration after they had been unable to contact the authorities "due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions". The Kuwait Ministry of Labour has reportedly ordered the Kuwaiti project sponsor (Sudan Regional Trading & Contracting Co.) to pay the salaries; despite agreeing to do so, the sponsor had not. The workers continue to survive on handouts and have stated they are afraid, with no one to safeguard their health.
Source type: News outlet
"21 Zimbabweans stuck in Kuwait," 17 Aug 2020
A group of Zimbabweans employed by [Explomo Technical Services] to work in Kuwait has been left stranded after the company dumped them without paying them their salaries.
The workers were employed in 2018 by Explomo Technical Services as de-mining experts but were later abandoned by their employer at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic...
“When we came here in 2018, we received our salaries as usual and the working conditions were average but since the beginning of the COVID-19 (pandemic), the chief finance officer and other senior managers left for Singapore...
“We have not been paid our December 2019 salaries and to make matters worse, our company abandoned us at a camp in Kuwait in March. The management left for Singapore and never came back,” [said a Zimbabwean worker]...
The deserted employees include 21 Zimbabweans, 29 Mozambicans, and 75 other nationals.