Kuwait arrests 47,000 expats in three months as crackdown continues

Kuwait has arrested 47,000 expats in the last three months as part of a crackdown on illegal workers, according to reports.

Interior Ministry assistant undersecretary for general security affairs Maj Gen Abdul Fattah Al-Ali is quoted by Kuwait Times as saying the arrests were the result of security inspection campaigns in areas “that accommodate huge numbers of people belonging to a specific nationality”.

“We will never tolerate the presence of any communal ghettos on Kuwaiti soil and the law will be imposed by force,” he was quoted as saying.

Al-Ali claimed that the campaigns had reduced crime by 24 per cent.

Of the 47,000 arrested, he said 6,000 were deported, around 60 per cent were released onsite after checking their legal status and 30 per cent were wanted and referred to relevant authorities.

Al-Ali denied mistreatment of expats detained during the campaigns and stressed that all arrests were videotaped and photographed.