Home, or, at the very least, the place where we each rest our heads at night, should be safe. Yet in the early hours of Wednesday, 12 June 2024, the residents of a seven-storey apartment block in Kuwait’s Mangaf neighbourhood, woke up to a raging blaze, plumes of smoke, and screams. 49 migrants—all employed and housed by the NBTC group– were killed and roughly 50 other workers were injured. From drivers and deliverymen to engineers and accountants, the majority of the deceased hailed from India, and fatalities also included migrants from the Philippines. The Kuwait Fire Force’s investigation indicated that the blaze originated with a short circuit, further fuelled by flammable wall partitions and poor storage of gas cylinders. The high number of deaths was attributed to inadequate fire escape routes due to the closure of the roof terrace on the overcrowded premises...

At first glance, the incident seems to be merely the result of housing safety negligence . However, as anyone with more than a passing familiarity with Kuwait knows, the true cause runs deeper. The Mangaf fire is the unsurprising result of a host of structural issues inherent to the Kafala system and exclusionary urban governance practices that shape the lives of Kuwait’s three million foreign residents, particularly working-class migrants who make up the majority of non-nationals and face the most marginalisation.

... there is hardly a single aspect of Kuwait’s built environment and economy that does not owe its existence to the sweat and labour of migrant workers. They have been and will continue to be essential...

NBTC Group posted a statement on its Instagram account on 15 June 2024 mourning the loss of lives, announcing financial support for grieving families, and promising cooperation with local authorities. The statement does not acknowledge any aspect of the company’s potential culpability, let alone how it will ensure the safety of its workforce in the future. Elsewhere, NBTC leadership have rejected any responsibility outright and have denied the existence of overcrowded conditions...

The Mangaf fire is no wake-up call. It is a testament to a collective and systemic failure to treat all human lives as equal. And unless this fundamental inequity is meaningfully undone, little can be expected to change.