Manama: Kuwait is to deport 88 foreigners for breaking residency and labour rules, officials have said.
The expatriates were arrested during a campaign conducted on Wednesday in the Governorate of Al Ahmadi to look for lawbreakers and marginal workers without valid documentations.
They all admitted during their questioning that they were not working under their sponsors as requested by the law. The probe revealed that many had absconded from their original work while others were wanted in other cases.
The sponsors of the violators will be blacklisted and will not be allowed to sponsor any foreigner under the strict rules adopted by the Kuwaiti authorities to ensure better compliance with the laws.
In March last year, Kuwait deported 1,053 foreigners detained in a raid on Jleeb Al Shuyukh, an area in the capital inhabited mainly by workers from South Asia and Arab countries.
During the raid, 4,015 foreigners had their identity documents checked to ensure they were not overstaying their residency in the country or were not on the list of people wanted for felonies.
In February, Kuwait deported 1,170 foreigners detained in a massive crackdown in the Khaytan area carried by several security agencies that dealt with 3,548 people.
“The raid was part of the security campaigns launched regularly by the ministry to arrest lawbreakers, convicts and wanted people,” the interior ministry said. “We checked the documents of those detained and allowed 2,378 people to go. However, 1,170 were referred to the competent authorities for deportation. The list includes seven who were wanted in relation with felonies.”
The ministry said that 218 of the detainees had broken the residency rules and overstayed in the country despite the expiry of their permits.
Two thirds of the 3.4 million people living in Kuwait are foreigners, mainly unskilled workers, helpers and drivers from Asian countries.
