A three-day regional workshop organized by IOM under the auspices
of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour will bring
together government representatives from the six Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates) to discuss alternatives to the
current sponsorship system. 

The workshop, which opens on 10 January in Kuwait City, will
allow representative from Ministries of Labour, the Executive
Office of the GCC Council of Labour Ministers and representatives
of the Kuwaiti government to discuss the status of the current
sponsorship system and challenges faced in the current and upcoming
reform processes

Participants will identify best practices from the GCC and other
regions in order to maximize the benefits of labour mobility for
governments, employers, contractual workers and their families in
the countries of origin.

The sponsorship system, which forms the legal basis for
residency and employment, has attracted criticism from a host of
stakeholders including governments and civil society in countries
of origin and destination, employers, contractual workers and
international community. The recent reforms to the sponsorship
systems in the GCC have been aimed at reducing the potential for
exploitation of workers by unscrupulous recruiters and employers,
while ensuring a smooth functioning of the labour markets in GCC
and countries of origin. This workshop will assist participants to
formulate initiatives that could be mutually beneficial for all
concerned governments and, most importantly, ensure the safety and
well-being of all contractual foreign workers in the region.

The workshop will open with the regional launch of IOM's World
Migration Report 2010, which highlights how the world, including
the GCC region, will be taken by surprise by the relentless pace of
migration and labour mobility unless States, international
organizations and civil society make a concerted effort to invest
in how they respond to it.

According to the World Migration Report 2010, out of a total 214
million migrants and foreign workers in the world today, 15.1
million reside in the six GCC countries, a number that has
increased by 2.4 million (19%) from 2005.  Temporary
contractual workers are estimated to represent more than two thirds
of the population in Qatar (86.5%), United Arab Emirates (70%) and
Kuwait (68.8%).

This workshop, part of the on-going IOM engagement with GCC
countries, is funded by the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands in
Kuwait.

For further information, please contact:

Iman Ereiqat

IOM Kuwait

Tel: +96599407996

E-mail: "mailto:iereiqat@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">iereiqat@iom.int