Enslaved Chinese workers

What kind of support can you expect when your own country has a worse human rights record than Kuwait’s?

According to the following article, Chinese workers were protesting in front of their embassy because their employer hasn’t paid their salary for the past eight months and wanted to submit a complaint against the company.

A representative from the said company arrived and told the securitymen these workers had a contract with the company which states “the company will not pay their salary for two years.” Can you believe this? I have never heard of anyone working for two years without receiving a weekly or monthly salary. This is the first time I hear of such term on a contract. Who would willingly agree to such terms? Also, ‘As per the contract’, salaries of the workers are supposed to be sent to their relatives in their home country. “This is to ensure the laborers do not ‘waste’ their money on vices like gambling and drinking” he added. Which law allows an employer to decide how an employee will or will not spend his money on? It sounds like one of the silly excuses used by many sponsors to retain their employee’s passport even though it is illegal to do so.
Besides what was published, I know absolutely nothing about this particular issue. The one thing I know for sure about these people is they came here to earn a living for their family and if I understand this correctly, it is not happening at all. Apparently, these workers have been working for eight months and their family hasn’t received a single fils yet and, based on the ‘2 years without pay’ term, they won’t receive anything until May 2007 if they receive anything at all. How is their family supposed to survive? How come, the Ministry of Social Affairs and labor isn’t enforcing the deposit of their monthly salary according to the labor law? Is the employer / sponsor above the law like many others who are allowed to violate the labor law? As for the Labor Consul of the Chinese embassy, why didn't he take their complaint instead of just requesting the workers to go back to work and follow the set regulations?
Based on many other cases of abused Chinese workers I heard of (beating, black mail, extortion, false promissory notes, unpaid wages, no medical care) and their far worse than Kuwait’s human rights record, one should not expect much help from the Chinese embassy. On the other hand, Kuwait has been making so many promises about protecting laborers’ rights. Now would be the right time to turn those too often broken promises into actions.

Chinese workers protest over 'pay'
Arab Times, Sunday, January 15, 2006

By Mansour AI-Sultan, Special to the Arab Times

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 14: Over a hundred Chinese laborers, who had not been paid for nearly eight months, shouted slogans opposite their embassy Saturday and requested a meeting with the Chinese ambassador, say sources.
The workers, who wished to submit to the ambassador a complaint against the company where they are employed, said they "had not received their salaries for the past eight months."
Capital securitymen arrived at the scene and spoke with the protesting workers urging them to "calm down and follow procedures," confirm the sources. The laborers, however, kept insisting on their "embassy's intervention to secure their financial rights," they add.
A twist in the tale occurred with the arrival of a representative from the said company. He informed securitymen the workers had a contract with the company which states "the company will not pay their salaries for two years."
As per the contract, salaries of the workers are to be sent to their relatives in their home country, explained the representative. This is to ensure the laborers do not "waste" their money on vices like gambling and drinking, he added.
Labor Consul of the Chinese embassy, meanwhile, arrived at the scene and requested the laborers "to return to their work place and follow the set regulations," conclude the sources.