An Instagram star and makeup artist with more than 2 million followers has come under fire for her criticism of a new law protecting domestic workers in Kuwait.

The reform, introduced in May, gives workers a day off per week and prevents employers from taking their passports.

In a video posted online, Sondos Alqattan said: "How can you have a servant at home who keeps their own passport with them?" adding: "What's worse is they have one day off every week."

She has since been fired by brands including Max Factor.



An Instagram star from Kuwait has come under fire for her comments on Filipino "servants."

Sondos Alqattan, a makeup artist who has over 2.3 million followers on the photo-sharing platform, posted a video criticising new laws, which were introduced in the country in May to protect conditions for the domestic workers, giving them a day off per week and preventing employers from taking their passports, according to The Guardian.

"How can you have a servant at home who keeps their own passport with them?" she said in the video, adding: "What's worse is they have one day off every week."

She went on: "If they run away and go back to their country, who will refund me?

"Honestly I disagree with this law. I don't want a Filipino maid any more."

🌿 A post shared by Sondos Alqattan سندس القطان (@sondos_aq) on May 16, 2018 at 12:59pm PDT May 16, 2018 at 12:59pm PDT

Since posting the video, she has faced a backlash from fans and groups including Migrante International, which advocates for Filipino workers overseas.

In a statement published online, the group called her comments "disgusting," demanding a public apology. The statement said: "By projecting herself as a slave-owner, Sondos exhibits intoxication in her overinflated ego and false sense of superiority."

It added that her comments "cling to a backward outlook which literally belongs to the dark ages."

Alqattan issued a statement to her Instagram page on Monday if an effort to clarify her comments, which she stood by.

She stated that she treated all employees fairly, does not impose "long working hours," and even thanked critics who had stated she was "beautiful from the outside but not necessarily the same from the inside."

Don’t judge a person without full understanding of the situation. Just because you don’t agree, doesn’t mean that you’re right! A post shared by Sondos Alqattan سندس القطان (@sondos_aq) on Jul 23, 2018 at 3:02pm PDT Jul 23, 2018 at 3:02pm PDT

Gulf News reported that a few of the many brands associated with the influencer have already started to cut ties since the video appeared.

One is Max Factor Arabia, who reportedly told the site on Monday afternoon that it was "shocked" by the comments and was suspending all work with Alqattan.

"Max Factor Arabia is taking this incident very seriously and have immediately suspended all collaborations with Sondos," a spokesperson said.

YouTube / Sondos alqattan

French perfume brand M. Micallef also fired the Instagram star, stating that it "deeply regretted" the relationship and would be "terminating with immediate effect," while London-based Chelsea Beautique said it had removed all video involving Alqattan from its channels.

Other brands associated with the influencer include MAC Cosmetics and Shisheido, who have yet to respond.

The reform introduced in May was an agreement between Kuwait and the Philippines to ensure that Filipino workers, who are often employed as maids or housekeepers, would be given greater protection, including banning employer's from holding onto their passports, and making sure they are provided with food, clothing, health insurance, and one day off each week.

The Philippines had previously banned expats from moving to the Gulf state after the body of 29-year-old Filipino worker Joanna Daniela Demafelis was found in the freezer of an abandoned Kuwait apartment.

Demafelis had been employed by Lebanese national Nader Essam Assaf, who later confessed to killing her and was sentenced to death by a Kuwaiti court.

The Guardian reports that roughly 660,000 people out of Kuwait's four-million-strong population are domestic migrant workers.