Kuwait: 55,000 house workers benefit from mobility grace period

Cairo: Around 55,000 domestic workers have joined the private sector in Kuwait, capitalising on a two-month transfer allowed by authorities there to offset a shortage in house help.

Earlier this year, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry and the Public Authority of Manpower announced a grace period, allowing domestic workers to transfer from Visa 20 (domestic sector) to Visa 18 (private sector). The transfer opened on July 14 and ended on September 12.

During that period, the Interior Ministry’s Residency Affairs had handled 55,000 applications for transferring from the domestic sector to the private sector, Al Rai newspaper reported, quoting security sources.

The transfers are set to largely contribute to reducing the shortage in house workers in the Kuwaiti market, the sources added.

The mobility process came upon directives from Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and Interior, Fahd Al Yousuf to grant a grace period to those who wish to transfer domestic workers to the private sector to help companies and institutions employ local workers and benefit from their presence in the country, the sources said.

Kuwait, a country of 4.9 million people mostly foreigners, has recently suffered from a shortage of domestic workers partially due to a ban on labourers from the Philippines. The problem has prompted calls for opening new markets for labour recruitment.

In June, Kuwait lifted a visa ban on domestic workers from the Philippines imposed more than a year ago amid a labour dispute. Kuwait said the ban lifting came after reaching an agreement in talks to resolve the row.

Last year, Kuwait announced suspending the issuance of all visas for Filipino workers in reaction to what it said was Philippine authorities’ failure to comply with a previous labour agreement.