Riot in Persian Gulf shows plight of workers

Originally at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002253246_bangladesh26.html

KUWAIT CITY — A riot by 700 workers from Bangladesh has thrown light on what human-rights groups call the slavelike conditions many Asian workers endure across the affluent Persian Gulf, including salaries of just dollars a day or no wages at all.

After the rioters stormed their country's embassy Sunday, ripping chandeliers from the ceiling and smashing tables and chairs, Bangladesh's ambassador expressed sympathy for their plight.

Ambassador Nazrul Islam Khan said complaints of delayed payments are one of the major issues his diplomats must deal with. He described the rioters as "poor people" and said he was sure "they were suffering."

The Bangladeshi workers, most of them cleaners, stormed the embassy apparently after months without being paid by their Kuwaiti employer.

Hundreds of thousands of unskilled Asian laborers in the oil-rich Gulf take low-paying jobs local residents won't do and are often at the mercy of employers in what can be slavelike conditions.

Some 200,000 Bangladeshis work in Kuwait.

Ahmed Bishara, a member of the Kuwaiti Society for Human Rights, described their situation as a "human disaster." He said there should be a minimum wage and a way to ensure the workers get paid every month.

Last July, a harsh report by Human Rights Watch charged that Asian workers in Saudi Arabia, mostly maids, endured systematic abuse and discrimination. Although the kingdom dismissed the report as exaggerated, officials acknowledged there were abuses against expatriate laborers and vowed to crack down.