Manama: Around 50,000 foreigners who had entered Kuwait on visit visas did not leave the country after the expiry of their visas, a local daily reported.
According to Al Mustaqbal daily, most of the overstayers were Arabs and came from countries witnessing political crises, mainly Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.
Sources told the daily that around 95 per cent of the violators did not avail of the Emiri amnesty offer that allowed those who overstayed their visas to leave the country without penalties.
The four-month grace period to help foreigners facing problems with their residence in the country ended in June.
The sources said that the number of residence law violators was increasing due to weak legal procedures and to the trafficking in residence permits, sponsored visas and visit visas, Kuwaiti daily Arab Times said on Monday.
Kuwait is home to around 3.3 million people, with two-thirds coming from foreign countries, mainly as unskilled labourers from Asian countries working in the booming construction sector and as domestic workers.
