Kuwait Is Like Home For Us : Expats Concerned About Draft Bill

 In two weeks, Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior will submit a draft law to the National Assembly (parliament) proposing changes to the residency law for expatriates. The announcement was made by the Minister of Interior, Anas Al Saleh, during a televised programme on Kuwait TV.

Last week, the National Assembly’s legislative committee announced that the draft law proposing an expat quota is constitutional. The bill has not been proposed yet, as it needs to be studied by all committees before it is presented in parliament.

In recent months, there has been an ongoing discussion regarding the demographic imbalance in Kuwait, as expats make up 70 per cent of the population. The economic effect of COVID-19, the upcoming November parliamentary elections, and the recent arrest of a Bangladeshi MP in a major corruption scandal have added to the debate on the number of expatriates in the country.

Expats have expressed their concerns on this issue, too. “Kuwait is home to many of us, when somebody asks me ‘Where are you from?’, I do not say India; I always say ‘Kuwait is home’,” Juno Sethi told Gulf News.

Juno and his wife, Manmeet Kaur, are amongst 1.45 million Indians living in Kuwait. “If this bill is to be passed then it will not only harm expats, but also the local economy, from the private sector to the Kuwaiti sponsors,” said Sethi.

Under Kuwaiti law, it is compulsory for a Kuwaiti to be the majority owner in a company, usually owning at least a 51 per cent stake.

The private sector is heavily dependent on expats; 90 per cent of the 1.3 million Kuwaitis work in the public sector. “In my opinion, rather than forcing everybody out, the government should start charging more for entry visas, enforcing a 5 per cent VAT tax and prohibiting the illegal practice of visa trading,” explained Sethi.

Last month, the parliament received a proposal from the government regarding the demographic imbalance. The plan ranged from imposing fees on expats to changing the residency law.

Who will be affected?
“Many people came here with a dream to earn money to provide for their families,” explained Kaur. “Some have even taken out a loan to come to Kuwait and now they find themselves back home with no money to build their home, let alone pay back the loan.”

Two-thirds of the 4.3 population in Kuwait are migrant workers and their families.

Kaur shared a story about a Syrian taxi driver who is stuck in limbo. He hasn’t been making any money since the lockdown, he has nine kids to provide for, and he can’t even go back to Syria because of the war.”

While some expats are in Kuwait to make a living, others reside here as they feel it is their home.

“I was born and raised in Kuwait. I am currently 33 years old and have only been to Bangladesh twice in my life,” Mohammad Sajjad Hussain told Gulf News. “The thing is there has been a spotlight on low income expats, but this decision could affect all of us, many of whom have been born and raised in Kuwait,” Sethi said.

Voluntary departure
Due to the economic impact of COVID-19, it is likely that many expats will leave Kuwait on their own as many have lost their jobs or have not been paid since the beginning of the pandemic. “Companies have not been paying their employees, so people do not have money to eat or pay their rent and because people cannot afford to pay rent, landlords have been cutting their electricity connections,” Hussain said.

Many people have been without money as they have been affected by the ‘No-Work-No-Pay’ policy that most companies operate by, although the policy is deemed illegal under Kuwaiti law.

Around 150-200 restaurant workers, working for a well-known Lebanese chain, held a protest on Monday, claiming they have not been paid for the past 3 months, according to Arab Times.

“We visited those people a few months ago to distribute meals. They told us that they have not been paid by their employer since March,” Sethi clarified.

For the past 3 months, Sethi and Kaur have been providing food to those in need and have distributed a total of 15,000 food bags. “What we saw is that so many people are more worried about when they will get their next meal rather than if they will contract the virus,” said Sethi.

Amnesty programme
In April, the Ministry of Interior initiated an amnesty programme that allowed non-permit holders to leave the country with no penalty. The government also paid for their tickets. “Some people wanted to leave during the amnesty period but were not able to because their passports were held with their employers,” Kaur said. “There was a group of 80 people we found sleeping on the streets for two days as they were waiting to go back home.”

Between April and June, 26,000 non permit holders left Kuwait as a result of the amnesty programme. “Of those 80 there are still 14 left in Kuwait as they can’t leave because they are not covered by the amnesty programme and do not have enough money to buy a ticket to go back home,” explained Kaur.

 

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