Kuwait restricts domestic worker recruitment to 10 countries

Kuwait's Interior Ministry has issued a new circular restricting the recruitment of domestic workers to 10 approved countries, while banning recruitment from 27 others, as part of updated regulations governing the domestic labour sector, local media reported.

The measure was adopted based on observations and recommendations from several government bodies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Public Authority for Manpower.

Under the directive, domestic workers may be recruited from South Africa, Benin, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam and Nepal, as well as Senegal, where recruitment is limited to male workers only. Recruitment procedures will be completed through the country's governorates.

The circular was distributed to residency affairs departments and service centres and took effect following its update two days ago, the source said.

The decision also includes a list of 27 countries from which the recruitment of domestic workers is prohibited. The list comprises the Asian countries of Madagascar and Bhutan, and the African nations of Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Togo, Malawi, Chad, Djibouti, Niger, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Angola.

For some countries, the restrictions apply only to female domestic workers, while the recruitment of males remains permitted.

The updated rules are part of Kuwait's efforts to regulate the recruitment of domestic workers and strengthen oversight of the sector through revised administrative procedures and controls.