Americans working for GLS getting Deported

"Arabic linguists Maher Al Masri, left, and Ramzi Zinnekah wait inside a Kuwaiti jail cell in a photo Zinnekah said was taken by a guard. The two men, U.S. civilians employed by defense contractor Global Linguist Solutions, were detained by local authorities in late May and deported to the U.S. as part of a dispute between GLS and the Kuwaiti company it hired to manage its employees. Both are now back at their homes in the States."

A U.S. defense contractor has barred its employees from leaving Army posts in Kuwait after local police issued arrest warrants for the group, a bizarre turn in a monthslong dispute between the company and a Kuwaiti subcontractor.
 

Nearly 100 American civilians working as Arabic linguists on camps Buehring and Arifjan, two major Army bases in the Middle East, say that since May 31 they’ve been unable to leave either post for medical appointments, personal time or even emergency matters.

 

All are at risk of being deported by Kuwaiti police, who have no authority inside base gates. The deportation threat stems from a legal dispute between their employer, U.S.-based defense contractor Global Linguist Solutions, and the Kuwaiti company it hired to manage its employees locally.

Before the ban, as many as nine linguists were detained outside the gates, held in Kuwaiti cells and flown back to the U.S., according to linguists interviewed and their employer.

 

Both the State Department and the Army say they are powerless to move the linguists out of the country or prevent arrests.

 

“It comes back to us being fugitives,” said one linguist reached at Camp Buehring, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. “That’s our status in the state of Kuwait.”

 

Kuwaiti law requires all foreign workers be placed on the rolls of a local firm, or “sponsor,” which applies for working visas on behalf of employees and manages some aspects of payroll.

The actual employer is required to hire the services of the local firm.
 
Global Linguist Solutions re-bid its sponsorship contract earlier this year, selecting a new Kuwaiti company instead of the one it previously worked through, Al Shora International General Trading & Contracting company.

 GLS and Al Shora dispute what happened next. Al Shora claims linguists canceled their residency under the company. It charges GLS with using Al Shora to remain legal in the country while trying to transfer linguists to the new sponsor.
 
GLS says it was eager to move employees off Al Shora rolls but was repeatedly rebuffed by Al Shora. The company has accused Al Shora of lashing out after failing to win the new contract.
In March, Al Shora turned over the names of GLS employees to Kuwaiti authorities and declared them absent from work and in violation of their working visas. Curbing immigration violations is a preoccupation in Kuwait, where foreigners account for nearly half the population, many working in the service industry. Full Story

Hubby tells me the Kuwaiti lady won the contract because her sister's husband had wasta, sister got divorced wasta was lost and the sponsor couldn't fix the situation then she found out GLS had put out a bid and a new company won it, which ticked off the old sponsor who then refused to transfer them to the new company and cancelled all of the employees visas and reported them as absconding. Most of them are hiding on base until they can figure out a way to get back home.

This just proves US companies should be careful when dealing with small Kuwaiti companies, there is KRH, DefCon, AC3, MEBS and other big companies that can handle sponsorship a little better but in the end they are all just trying to make a quick buck off the US government. Anyone looking for a sponsor, feel free to ask me about their background.

UPDATE: New story from Fox News.com (link)

The Prime Minister of Kuwait is now being questioned and of course the "new sponsor" who won the contract is none other then (drum roll please) KRH!

This sounds like the beginning of a new movie drama, "Not without my Kuwaiti visa", I crack myself up!

Today's Ministry adventure

Oh man, I would much rather walk over hot coals than deal with the ministries, especially those that inlove dealing with Kuwaiti females. Unfortunately some braniac in the immigration had at some point combined my first and middle name. My husband then changed it back to my 3 names. When he went to register my son he was told the marriage cert and my name didn't match and we would have to get it changed, until then we can't get the document.

Seriously? He could have let it slip by but he wanted to be a jerk. Today was my appointment in Hawally at some name change ministry place. This is also where all of the bedoon people are going to get their marriage/birth certificates since they have been allowed to have them issued.

This means the people are used to dealing with bedoons and have the crappiest attitudes. My husband has to walk around with his civil id to show them he's Kuwaiti.

When the women see me they get attitudes immediately. We waited for about 20 minutes. The Kuwaiti lady called my name. We sit down and the she asks if I speak Arabic. Well I do to some degree but not all the technical mumbo jumbo. She tells us we must have a translater and my husband can't do it. WTH? I' started contracting again ( another story ) so I have no time to keep going here and there. My husband talked to the manager and he said it's ok if he translates.

That pissed off the Kuwaiti chick. We sat down again and she was like sorry it's 12 and time for me to get off. I don't work overtime. OMG! We did finally have her majesty do the swear in and writing for us but she was pissed off. When we got down to the car the time was 12:08 which means she was trying to get off work early and we messed up her schedule.

While talking to the lady the other Kuwaiti chick was talking on the phone to her mom about purple, black and beige purses. The old bedoon guy came in and she was totally yelling at him. I couldn't even hear the questions being asked. I felt bad for the guy. She was totally rude and so loud. We finished the first step and hopefully my husband can finish the rest. I don't feel like dealing with ministries on my only day off.

I had to get a new number for work because my new company is damn cheap and wants us to have contact with them all the time but they don't want to give us phones or lines. I guess we are responsible for the bill too. I didn't read that in my offer letter. Anyhoo we went to Mangaf to get a work number. As we are finalizing the paperwork in comes a niqabi chick yelling/asking how much the Iphone is. She came in and stood almost on top of me asking about the phone.

Hello! Don't you see me? I really hate when they walk up on you when you are waiting in line or something. It's called PERSONAL SPACE so back off!! So as we are standing there she decides she wants the phone. She gives him some sob story about how her daughter lost her phone and he should give her a good price because she was crying about it WTH? She then told him to hurry up because she had to go to work. Obviously we were invisble or something. All of this on my first day off since I started working.

Like I said I would rather walk across hot coal than deal with b.s. But it seems I always have something that needs ministry attention. I wonder what the next thing will be.