Kuwait court squashes appeal against job curb on expats

Cairo: Kuwait’s Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal against a condition obligating expatriates working in the government to leave the country to get their end-of-service gratuity, a Kuwaiti newspaper.

Earlier this year, an official at the Civil Service Commission, Kuwait’s employment agency, said that expatriates whose employment has been terminated must show a departure notification before they can obtain their end-of-service dues. At the time, the official explained that the measure aims at implementing a state plan for modifying the country’s demographic make-up.

In a lawsuit filed by some experts, the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal against the condition that also applies to foreign government employees who seek to transfer employment to the private sector, Al Rai said.

Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s total population of 4.6 million.

In recent months, there have been increasing calls in Kuwait for further curbing foreigners’ employment amid accusations that migrant workers have strained the country’s infrastructure facilities amid economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.