Kuwait steps up clampdown on illegal expats

Cairo: Kuwaiti authorities have stepped up a crackdown on illegal migrants, rounding up around 200 foreign violators of residency and labour systems in the country, according to a local report.

Police in the governorate of Al Farwaniya had mounted raids on six areas in the populous governorate resulting in arresting 200 such illegals, Al Rai newspaper said. The arrests included irregular labourers and runaway domestic workers.

The paper quoted security sources as vowing continued swoops against violators of residency and labour laws and deport them from Kuwait.

“A tight plan has been drawn up including deployment of security patrols to sites of haphazard markets and suspected dens of liquor and prostitution,” a source said.

Kuwaiti police had earlier arrested 192 illegal expatriates in the governorates of Al Ahmadi and

Mubarak Al Kabeer, Al Rai reported last week.

The arrested illegals are transferred to prison in preparation for their deportation to their home countries as part of legal measures including payment of their ticket costs, according to security sources.

Kuwait has repeatedly extended the grace period for illegal residents in the past months to allow time for them to legalise their status.

The Gulf country of around 4.6 million people mostly migrant workers, has in recent months sought to redress its demographic imbalance amid fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.