Kuwait’s National Assembly has approved a draft expat quota bill which only allows 15% of its population to be Indians.
With the commencement of COVID-19, the anti-expat rhetoric came to fore as the lawmakers and government officials demand for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait.
Kuwait has a population of 4.3 million of which foreigners account for 3 million. In the expat community, Indians are the majority with a population of 1.45 million.
The draft expat quota bill has been deemed constitutional and will be transferred to the higher authority for a comprehensive plan.
If this plan proves successful, over 8 lakh Indians would be forced to leave Kuwait.
Last month, Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah has said that they have intended to reduce the expatriate population from 70% to 30%.
The Speaker of Kuwait’s assembly mentioned that the draft law filed must impose a cap on the number of expats and the number must decrease gradually but not at a time. If this year’s cap is 70% of the population, next year’s cap must contain 65% expats to stay in the country.
As per the Indian Embassy’s report in Kuwait, there are about 28000 Indians who are working for the Kuwait’s government as nurses, scientists, and engineers. About 5.3 lakh Indians are deployed in private sectors. Moreover, about 60000 Indian students are studying in Indian schools in the country.
The reason for passing the bill immediately is because the majority of coronavirus cases in the county are recorded from the foreigners. As per the latest reports, Kuwait has recorded about 50,000 COVID-19 cases so far. Though Kuwait has lifted its 24-hour curfew, some areas are still under isolation.
In Kuwait, there are at least 650000 expatriates mostly from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Philippines who are mostly employed as domestic workers.
By Gayatri Yellayi
