Curbing Human Trafficking: It’s Kuwait’s top priority right now
Combating human trafficking is one of Kuwait's highest priorities, said its Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh, terming the country's security a "red line", reported Kuwait Times on Wednesday.
The comment came after the arrest of Bangladeshi MP Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul who is accused of human trafficking, money laundering, fraudulence in workers' recruitment and bribing.
Anas Al-Saleh, also Kuwait's deputy prime minister and minister of state for cabinet affairs, made the statement during the parliament's discussion on Wednesday of a letter from MP Abdulwahab Al-Babtain regarding the assignment of the interior minister to prepare a report on human trafficking and the ministry's mechanism to combat it.
Saleh affirmed that the names of those involved in the so-called human trafficking are with the public prosecution.
Shahid was arrested by Kuwait's Criminal Investigation Department on June 6.
Bangladesh embassy in Kuwait wrote to Kuwait's foreign ministry to know the reasons for his arrest, but it is yet to get any response.
During interrogation by Kuwait's prosecution, Shahid, an independent lawmaker from Laxmipur-1, confessed to bribing Kuwaiti officials with millions of dinars to get job contracts for the company -- Marafie Kuwaitia Group -- that he jointly owns with a Kuwaiti.
In February this year, the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh also opened an investigation on charges that he laundered Tk 1,400 crore. He is also accused of laundering money from Kuwait to the USA.
Kuwait Times reported that Shahid denied all charges that have been filed against him, except for "involvement in bribe".
He has admitted to offering gifts and assisting his friends in what he called "several agencies" and they in turn helped him complete the company's transactions.
Quoting sources, the newspaper reported that the public prosecutor is expected to summon three persons whose names have appeared during the investigation -- the names of people whom the Bangladeshi said he offered gifts.
They include a Kuwaiti who manages a group of well-known businesses, another Kuwaiti who runs a factory and the third one is a senior official in one of the ministries who has been suspended from work for three months, and 50 percent of his salary has been deducted upon a ministerial decision pending investigation.
The prosecution has also summoned approximately 20 employees working in the firm that is run by the accused, including the accountant, and listened to their statements regarding the salary payments for the employees. It is believed the accused runs three other companies.
The prosecution has yet to summon people related to the case, whether witnesses or people whose names were mentioned during the investigation, except for the 20 employees, reported the daily.
The source stressed that the prosecution's investigation and the statements of the accused did not mention any names other than the three people referred to and who the prosecutor is going to summon to investigate on charges of accepting bribes, it reported.
Regarding the defendant's statements, the source stated that the defendant mentioned during the investigation that he came to Kuwait in 1984 and has always respected the laws of the country.
Shahid has 34 government contracts and is employing 9,000 workers through cleaning tenders, Kuwait Times reported.
He is accused of recruiting thousands of foreign workers, mostly Bangladeshis, and charging huge amounts of money and of paying low salaries and deducting salaries.
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