Kuwait To Arrest 100,000 Illegal Expats

Kuwait’s government has announced that it will launch a crackdown on illegal residents, which is expected to lead to the arrest of more than 100,000 residents currently living in the country, local media reported.

It will also be one of the largest operations conducted by the Gulf country, which has tightened its labour policies in the recent past.

The crackdown will be conducted with the help of other ministerial departments in areas where violators are thought to be, Major General Sheikh Mazen Al- Jarrah, Interior Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for National and Passport Affairs was quoted as saying in Kuwait Times.

The official said that the majority of residency violators are Indians, with 25,000 of them staying illegally in the country. Other nationalities include Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Egyptians, Filipinos, Syrians, Pakistanis, Iranians and Iraqis.

Sheikh Mazen warned that all those who do not have proper documents will face strict legal action and urged them to hand themselves over to the authorities prior to the crackdown.

Kuwait has been looking to correct an imbalance in its demographics as it aims to reduce the number of foreign workers it employs.

Foreigners make up about 69 per cent of Kuwait’s 3.8 million population.

In 2013, it launched an aggressive campaign against illegal expats as it deported those working without a proper visa or those committing traffic offenses.

The oil-rich country relies heavily on foreign workers to perform low-paying and strenuous jobs in sectors such as construction and services.