Malawians in Kuwait still being abused

Malawians working in Kuwait have expressed concerns over working conditions in the Asian country.

Speaking with Malawi24, a number of Malawians living in Kuwait have said that among all migrants living in the country, people from the warm heart of Africa are least paid due to lack of agreements between Malawi and employers in Kuwait.

One of the Malawians who fled the Asian country a week ago due to poor working conditions told Malawi24 that most people from Malawi are offered jobs contrary to what they agreed before leaving Malawi.

“When they are recruiting us to go there, they tell us what we will be doing but once we are in Kuwait, they give us different jobs that are contrary to our earnings,” said the man who opted for anonymity.

He added that Malawians in Kuwait are not considered workers since they do not have a set minimum wage for each job.

According to the man, other migrants in Kuwait get fair salaries matching the type of jobs they do but Malawians are paid peanuts.

“We get low salaries contrary to the jobs that we do. This is different with workers from other countries as their respective countries negotiate with the Kuwaiti employees on minimum work and other working conditions. They tend to receive better salaries matching their jobs,” he disclosed to Malawi24.

In a separate interview, another Malawian man who is in Kuwait said one of his duties is to carry an electronic machine weighing over 100 kilograms from the top floor to lower floors of a 13 floor skyscraper.

The man told Malawi24 that most people do the job because they fail to raise enough money to come back home.

“We risk our lives by working in dangerous places, doing hard jobs that at the end we earn little money. The problem is that our authorities don’t agree with the Kuwaiti employees on conducive working conditions,” he said. Due to lack of jobs in Malawi, youth are flocking to other countries such as South Africa, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to find work.