Kuwait labour protests turn violent

Hundreds of mainly Bangladeshi workers went on strike for a third day in Kuwait on Monday, seeking better pay and improved working conditions, with some overturning cars and ransacking offices.

The strike by Asian cleaners and workers began in the major oil exporting Gulf Arab state on Saturday against a backdrop of soaring inflation and high prices.

Commerce and Industry Minister Ahmad Baqer said Kuwait would investigate workers' grievances and ensure their rights were respected, the state news agency Kuna reported.

More than 500 Asian workers staged street demonstrations until police dispersed them, residents and a security source said.

"The company wants me to pay money all the time. Money, money, I have to pay money," one Bangladeshi worker in his 30s told Reuters TV, adding that workers wanted a net salary of 50 dinars ($188.3) per month without any deductions for visa fees.

On Sunday, up to three Bangladeshis working for employers were injured when Asian workers attacked them, a security source said.

A string of strikes has sparked calls by parliament deputies to improve conditions for expatriates, mainly Asians and Arabs, who make up two thirds of Kuwait's 3.2 million population.

"And the revolution of the hungry has erupted," al-Anba newspaper said on its front page.

Baqer said the government would ensure workers were paid their regular salaries.

"And if any injustice happened to them, then they should go to the relevant authorities, the ministry of social affairs and labour courts. I have no doubts that they will get their rights," he told Kuna after a cabinet meeting.

Cabinet Minister Faisal al-Hajji added the government would make sure obligations in labour contracts would be honoured.

A US State Department report on forced labour and the sex trade placed Kuwait along with other Gulf Arab states in the lowest ranking bracket last month.

Gulf Arab countries rely heavily on foreign workers as they use windfall oil revenues to develop at a rapid pace.

Struggling to fight inflation, the Kuwaiti government has raised wages of Kuwaitis twice this year, while raising subsidies for basic food items to control prices.

Annual inflation hit 11.4 per cent in April in the world's seventh largest oil exporter as high housing and food costs continued to spur price rises.