THE STATE AND POLITICS OF MIGRANT LABOUR IN KUWAIT by Marwan Rateb Asmar .1n..- Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Department of Politics January 1990 Abstract This study examines the relationship between the state in Kuwait and the use of large numbers of migrant workers in the Kuwaiti economy. Migrant labour has become essential not only in every aspect of economic life but also as a means of reproducing state power based on traditional social relations. An understanding of the migrant labour system is thus necessary for any understanding of the nature of pol- itical relations and political power. Although imports of foreign labour arose in response to economic, rather than political, changes (specifically the development of the oil industry) the state has regulated its presence in such a way as to strengthen its own position by increasin g the loyalty of Kuwaiti citizens. While migrants staff virtually all key sectors of economic and administrative life, oil revenues have been used to guarantee government employment and numerous state welfare benefits to all indigenous wor- kers. The effect of this is an "embourgeoisement" of Kuwaiti labour with a consequence that a signifi- cant indigenous working class in the industrial sense does not exist. This situation has, in turn, served to legitimate the political system (and with it the traditional stratum of power holders) in the eyes of Ku- waitis. Migrant labour has also come to serve indigenous capitalists interests. Class fractions such as landlords and import merchants have constructed their prosperity around migrant labour, a factor which has served to lessen tensions between the merchant class and the ruling family and thus further stabilised and legitimised the state. Both Kuwaiti workers and merchants derive numerous state benefits from a legal structure which curtails the civil status of migrants, denying them political rights of expression and association, most social benefits and the right to own property, while simultaneously placing them in re- lationships of dependence on Kuwaits. The presence of migrants, therefore, makes possible the develop- ment of Kuwait's oil wealth, ensure the profits and privileges of its citizens, and allows the state to use economic development and oil wealth to strengthen its own position and avoid the political challenges which modernisation might otherwise bring through the process of class formation. This Thesis is dedicated to my parents Rateb and Lamia TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: The Introduction. 1 1.1 The integration/exclusion dichotomy. -). 1.1.1 The notion of duality 3 1.2 The structure of the thesis 4 Part I, Kuwait: State, Economy, and Society. Chapter Two: Perspectives on migrant labour and Kuwait. 8 2.1 Economic and non-economic sources of migration. 8 2.2 The historical evolution of mi grant labour. 10 2.3 The Push-Pull paradigm. 12 2.3.1 Applicability of the paradigm to the Middle East. 13 2.4 The political economy approach to mi gration. 15 2.5 Migrant Labour in a comparative perspective. 19 2.5.1 The case of Western Europe. 19 2.5.2 The case of South Africa 20 2.6 The development of migration to Kuwait 22 2.6.1 The class nature of migrant labour 24 2.7 Migration, capital and the state in Kuwait. 25 2.8 The problem of citizenship 27 2.9 The costs and benefits of migration. 29 2.10 Conclusion. 31 Chapter Three: Kuwait in the World Economy 38 3.1 Kuwait's incorporation into the international economy. 39 3.1.1 The traditional Economy of Kuwait. 39 3.1.2 The rise of British power in the Gulf. 42 3.2 Oil and Integration into the world economy. 45 3.2.1 The oil industry: a historical background. 46 3.12 The oil sector and its disarticulation from the rest of the economy. 46 3.3 The economic crises of the 1980's. 53 3.4 The debate on industrialisation. 57 Chapter Four: The nature of the state in Kuwait. 65 4.1 The development of autocracy 66 4.1.2 The period of consultation. 67 4.1.3 Moubarak and the establishment of autocracy. 68 4.2 The development of the two dominant classes in the oil era. 70 4.3 The state apparatus and the merchants. 73 4.3.1 The relationship between private interest and public duty. 76 4.4 State expenditure and the concentration of capital. 78 4.4.1 The Land Purchase Scheme. 78 4.4.2 Public expenditure. 79 4.5 The ruling family, the merchant class and the autonomy of the state. 83 4.6 Conclusion 87 Part II, The Politics of Migration in Kuwait. Chapter Five : The development of migration in Kuwait 93 5.1 Migration in the pre-oil era 94 5.1.1 Indians and British foreign policy objectives in the inter-war years. 97 5.2 The development of migration in the post-war years. 102 5.2.1 Stage I. 1945-1961. 102 5.2.1.2 The role of the state in Sta ge I of the migration process. 104 5.2.2 Stage 111961-1975. 105 5.2.1.1 The role of the state in sta ge II of the migration process. 115 5.2.3 Stage III 1975-. 115 5.13.1 The role of the state in sta ge III of the migration process 120 5.3 Conclusion 122 Chapter Six: The state and the nature of the Labour market. 127 6.1 The development of duality in the labour market 128 6.2 Explanations regarding the nature of the labour market 139 6.2.1 Explanation One: Bedouin Aversion to manual work. 140 6.2.2 Explanation Two: State Direction 141 6.2_3 Explanation Three: The historical development of migration . 144 Chapter Seven: Labour migration, state policy and capitalist interests 154 7.1 Problems in identifyin g migration policy 154 7.2 Trends in institutionalization 159 7.3 State, capital and migrant labour 163 7.3.1 The rise of the landlord rentiers. 164 7.3.2 The rise of the infrastructural bourgeoisie. 166 7.3.3 The state and the existing fractions of capital 168 7.4 Conclusion. 171 Chapter Eight: The legal structure of migrant labour 176 8.1 The bureaucracy and the development of administration. 176 8.1.1 Migrants and the administration. 177 8.2 The dynamics of exclusion 178 8.2.1 Labour laws. 178 8.2.2 Wages. 184 8.2.3 Trade Unions. 188 8.3 Other elements of exclusion. 193 8.3.1 Company law 193 8.3.2 The liberal profession 195 8.4 The Al-Kafala(sponsoring) system 196 Chapter Nine: Social Relations in a segmented society. 205 9.1 The social relations problem. 205 9.2 Housing. 210 9.3 The Palestinian community 216 9.4 The E gyptian community. 219 9.5 Conclusion 220 Conclusion. 224 Select Bibliography 229 List of tables Table no. 3.1 Percentage of Kuwait's imports 1912 45 3.2 Arab Gulf countries imports 1970-1979 48 3.3 Total crude oil production 1946-1984. (millions of barrels). 49 3.4 Government revenues 1980/81-1988189, (thousends KD) 50 3.5 Value of exports 1978-1982 (thousends I(D) 50 3.6 Value of imports 1978-1982(thousends I(D). 51 3.7 Sectoral contributions to Gross National Product 1973-1982 (value in million KD). 51 3.8 Sectoral contributions to Gross National Product 1973-1982), (percentages). 52 4.1 Families that hold membership on three or more Boards of major shareholding companies 74 4.2 Cabinet composition by family background, 1962-1986 75 4.3 Government participation in corporate ownership 1985. 81 4.4 Agencies controlled by 14 merchants 1972. 82 5.1 The composition of migrants up till 1947(in percentages). 95 5.2 Foreigners in Kuwait before 1947. 96 5.3 Total foreign workers brought in by KOC 1936-1950. 97 5.4 Foreigners in Kuwait 1947-1956. 101 5.5 Population of Kuwait according to nationality 1961 104 5.6 Population of Kuwait by sex 1957-1985 in absolute and percentage terms. 107 5.7 Population by sex and nationality 1965-1975 109 5.8 Labour force by occupation groups (public and private sectors) and country of nationality from the 1975 census. 111 5.9 Non-Kuwaiti population by sex and duration of residence, 1957-1975. 112 5.10 Migrant households by number of persons 1965-1985. 113 5.11 Pupils in private education 1962/63-1976i77. 114 5.12 The non-Kuwaiti labour force according to the Arab and Asian countries 1965-1985. 116 5.13 Labour Permits 1980-1987. 120 6.1 Labour force according to the 1955 sample. 128 6.2 Percentage of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti workers in some occupations for 1957. 129 6.3 Labour force by sex and nationality in censuses between 1957-1985. 131 6.4 Labour force( 12 years and over) by occupation and nationality 1965-1970. 132 6.5 Labour force( 15 years and over) by occupation and nationality, 1975-1980. 132 6.6 Labour force by occupation and nationality, 1985. 133 6.7 Labour force( 12 years and over) by economic activity and nationality 1965-1970. 134 6.8 Labour force( 12 years and over) by economic activity and nationality, 1975-1980. 135 6.9 Labour force according to nationality and economic activity, 1985 136 6.10 Number of employees in the Government civil service 1984. 137 6.11 Government civil servants by nationality February 1976. 137 6.12 Government civil servants by educational attainment February 1976.