Kuwait busts ring involved in illegal residency permit trading
Suspects, including Kuwaitis, used bogus firms to bring in workers in return for cash
Cairo: Kuwaiti authorities have arrested a gang involved in illegal trading in residency permits or Iqamas as the country is pressing ahead with a massive-scale clampdown on illegal expatriates.
Members of the ring – holding Syrian citizenship - are accused of setting up phantom companies and forging related documents whereby they were able to register and bring hundreds of workers to Kuwait in return for money, the Interior Ministry said.
They charged KD500 (Dh6,022) for domestic labour transfer and KD2,000 for recruitment from abroad per worker.
Authorities said they have also arrested other suspected collaborators or facilitators including Kuwaiti sponsors.
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No specific figures of overall arrests were given in connection to the case. The ministry posted on its X account a photo showing five suspects after their arrest.
In recent weeks, Kuwait has mounted a crackdown on illegal foreign residents, who failed to take advantage of a three-month grace period to rectify their status.
The amnesty, which commenced on March 17, allowed illegal expatriates to readjust their residency status or willingly leave the country without paying fines. The deadline ended on June 30.
Irregular expatriates, who had no passports, were able to leave Kuwait without having to pay a fine and re-enter the country.
The unlawful resident with no travel document was allowed to get a new one and use it for departure.
There are no official figures available on how many expats made use of the grace period.
The deported violators will also be banned from re-entering Kuwait for life and other GCC countries for five years.