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Merge 104.8 | 16 July 2020
A bill to reduce the number of foreign workers in Kuwait from 70 per cent to 30 per cent has been cleared by the legal and legislative committee of the country’s National Assembly.
According to local media, Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah said that the high percentage of expats in the GCC country “represents a major imbalance in the demographics, and needs difficult decisions to amend it.”
Sabah also stated to local media that he sought permission to take forward the bill from the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Given that the bill will be approved by the government, nearly 800,000 expatriate Indian residents in Kuwait could be forced to leave the country, the BBC reports.
Indians form the largest expat community in Kuwait, followed by Egyptians, Filipinos, and Bangladeshis.
The BBC reported that the Indian government says it has already initiated discussions with authorities in Kuwait regarding the bill.
“The Indian community is well-regarded in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf region, and their contributions are well recognized. We have shared our expectations, and Kuwait’s decision will take that into account,” said Anurag Srivastava, India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, as reported by the BBC.
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