Bullying Expats Costs Us A Lot

"Expel the expats... that’s what we ought to do, send them home, throw them out in the desert, let them die in hell; they are the ones to blame for all the crimes and disasters; they are the ones that deny Kuwaiti citizens job opportunities; they keep them out of hospitals and services; we need to keep them away, so that we can breathe our air"... the litany of complaints against expats abounded, and there are several ways to solve the problem.

This racism, which still exists in these comments, has convinced many of us that expatriates are opponents of Kuwaitis, an enemy of the state, even demons that have to be expelled from our bodies or our lives will become hellish.

The mill of racism ground and crushed the expatriates over the years, and many left Kuwait forever with a lump in their throats, and pain and heartbreak in their hearts. Our country lost most of its capabilities and experiences with the departure of the expats, as well as health care, construction, and cleaning as well as tailoring. It has gotten so bad that we can no longer find a tailor to make our Eid dishdashas.

Expats and their expertise left Kuwait for places with a pure environment, free of racism and hatred; an environment where they are considered equal citizens and part of the nation's development. In an environment where they are valued and given the rewards for sweat and effort without overburdening them with what God has given them for living, the expats escaped bullying, demagoguery, and endless cursing.

Kuwait was once a destination for the hearts of people, with rivers of talents and expertise flowing through its midst, including the enlightened, artists, writers, jurists, teachers, craftsmen and workers who contributed to constructing and strengthening Kuwait, resulting in Kuwait becoming known as the pearl of the Gulf. The crows of bullying, racism, and exclusion were not yet in our skies when hearts were pure and souls were classy. Now we pay the price for a changing situation.

Now everyone is paying the price for racism: the racists are paying the price for a disease that ran in their blood like poison. The expats called for the expulsion of innocent foreigners who were only here to get a living. There are those who aren't racists but are paying the price because they didn't stand up, didn't resist, and didn't deny the 'phobia of immigrants'. The truth is some of them joined the treacherous voices, responding and raising their voices by expelling God's servants from the land of God.

What happened? Has the problem been resolved? Expats who left the country have been replaced by those who are more experienced, knowledgeable, and sincere than they were. As a result, labor wages have risen, and finding a carpenter, blacksmith, plumber, or skilled worker is more difficult than finding red mercury. Due to all the skilled workers leaving, the lowest qualified and most expensive workers have taken their place. Teacher, doctor, and judge have all left to find new opportunities in nearby countries, where their feelings are taken into account and their work is appreciated, and no one stabs them with a dagger of harm every day. Many expats are in the process of leaving Kuwait for good.

It is not right to complain about paying more for lower-quality work or not being able to find a tailor to sew our new dishdashas, because this is the result of our hands. We lived in luxury when we hired skilled people; but when we treated them poorly, and failed to value them as brothers, and we walked under the banner of the bullies, and did not defend the rights of expats, and failed to know what was in our country's interest, they left for good.

We find it strange that Kuwait, the land of humanity whose white hands extend from one end of the earth to the other, and that helps, consoles, and heals the wounds of people we do not even know, and they do not know us, is also a place where abuses are carried out and expulsion calls are raised against people who came to this land to contribute to its building; people who are happy about what makes Kuwait happy and sad about what saddens Kuwait. Is something wrong with you? How would you judge? If the expats leave us, do not ask for any reason, argument, or logic, with such despicable bullying and such abhorrent exclusionary rhetoric.

[Above is an opinion expressed in Al Jarida daily newspaper first published on 7 April 2022.]

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