Dubai, June 21: Kuwait is toughening its stance against expatriate workers and is likely to arrest and accordingly deport close to one lakh expatriates for being registered with bogus companies.
Thousands of Indians will be affected, being the single largest expatriate community numbering about 5,80,000 in the total population of 3.5 million.
A relatively large number of private firms have been issued commercial licenses, but do not actually have offices or business activities in the country. They have brought expat manpower into the oil exporting country in return for money, without giving them the promised jobs in return, Kuwait daily Al Watan reported quoting highly placed security sources.
According to the daily, Kuwait’s cabinet has assigned a taskforce to bring to book all those companies engaged in the malpractice. Al Watan said the sources suggested that a large section of such manpower engages in menial jobs to make their ends meet, while the majority of them are jobless.
The Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Fadhil Safar, meanwhile, also affirmed the government’s determination in preventing single expatriate workers from living in private residential areas, according to the daily.
”The minister also expressed shock over the fact that some private companies were found operating within private residential areas without obtaining a clearance from the relevant municipal authorities,” It said.
Earlier last year, a report revealed that expatriates made up 69 per cent of Kuwait’s total population.
The six member Gulf Cooperation Council
–Agencies