Kuwait: Arrest warrants against 3 over human trafficking

Cairo: Kuwaiti prosecutors had ordered the arrest of three citizens accused of involvement in the country’s biggest human trafficking by illegally bringing in 400 expatriates to work in fake hotels in Kuwait, a local newspaper has reported.

The arrest warrants were issued after the migration police had found visas for recruiting thousands of expatriates to work in the non-existent hotels, Al Rai newspaper said.

Some illegal expatriates investigated in connection to the case, admitted to having paid KD1,500 each to come to Kuwait, according to the report.

Human trafficking cases have been uncovered in Kuwait since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic early last year resulting in the arrest of dozens of Kuwaitis and foreigners implicated in such scams.

Last May, Kuwait’s court of cassation upheld rulings sentencing a colonel at the Interior Ministry and seven Egyptians to three years in prison each for involvement in one scam.

Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million population. The country has recently stepped up a crackdown on illegal migrant workers.