800,000 expats deported from Kuwait since 1992

Cairo: Kuwait has deported about 800,000 expatriates from 22 different nationalities since 1992, a local newspaper has disclosed.

The disclosure comes amid a high-profile campaign in the country to restrict migrants’ employment and redress a demographic imbalance there.

The 800,000 deportees included 500,000 expelled by Kuwait’s prison sector while the 300,000 others had to leave the country on orders from other security agencies, Al Qabas newspaper said, quoting security reasons.

The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has increasingly toughened measures and installed sophisticated devices to ensure that the deportees will not re-enter the country by changing their names or passports, the sources said.

Around 25,000 such deportees, mostly Asians, have been exposed while attempting to enter Kuwait using fake names and new passports, they added.

“The turbulent situation in the region has prompted imposing tighter security measures at the airport, as well as at land and sea outlets to stop infiltration of any criminal elements,” a source said.

Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million population. In recent months, there have been increasing calls in Kuwait for curbing foreigners’ employment amid accusations that migrant workers have strained the country’s infrastructure facilities.