Khaberni - The number of complaints submitted by homeowners to the Home Workers’ Directorate at the Ministry of Labor during the first nine months of the current year reached 577, with 449 resolved, while the number submitted by homeowners and transferred by the head of the inspection department to the relevant inspector is 133 complaints still under process.
No complaints were transferred to the Human Trafficking Unit (forced labor) during the same period, according to the directorate. As for the complaints submitted by domestic workers, according to a report from the ministry, they are without legal basis, except for one complaint, while no complaints from homeowners without legal basis were received.
Justice Minister Dr. Bassam Samir Talhouni recently emphasized that combating human trafficking is a national priority and is given special importance by the government, which fights this crime. Moreover, the National Committee to Prevent Human Trafficking is making outstanding efforts to provide legislative and procedural mechanisms to tackle it at all levels, through protecting the groups most vulnerable to exploitation to reduce this crime.
Talhouni highlighted the importance of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act of 2009 and its amendments, aimed at addressing human trafficking crimes in all their forms, enhancing penalties to prevent perpetrators from escaping punishment, and providing protection and assistance for the victims, as well as establishing specialized courts to handle such cases, which has resulted in positive outcomes in specialized investigations between the specialized public prosecution and the Human Trafficking Unit in gathering evidence and proofs, since the early detection of potential victims to provide more guarantees of justice access.
Furthermore, the Inspection Directorate follows up on the resolution of complaints and the mechanism of their resolution and the complaints under process through the Himmayah platform for labor complaints. As for complaints outside the ministry's jurisdiction, they are recorded on the platform, and labor inspectors make efforts to resolve the individual ones between the worker and the employer through amicable means (conciliation). If a resolution is not reached, the worker is directed to the judiciary to claim labor rights, such as complaints of service termination or workers claiming financial entitlements while they are not present at their job.
