Abu Dhabi: About 21,163 out of 26,472 illegal workers from several different nationalities have benefited from the Kuwaiti pardon scheme amid the COVID-19 crisis, Kuwaiti media reported.
The illegal workers who registered for repatriation belong to 27 nationalities, out of the total citizens of 47 countries in Kuwait, sources said.
Plans will be drawn up for deporting the remaining illegals at the earliest, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, the sources added.
The highest number of violators of the residency law, 7,181, belonged to the Indian community with 5,977 workers being repatriated and 1,204 remaining, followed by the Egyptian community with all 6,161 violators being repatriated, then the Bangladeshi community with 4,376 workers of whom 4,121 were repatriated and 255 others remaining.
The lowest number of violators were the Italian citizens, with only two workers, followed by the Iranian, Tunisian, and Thai communities with three violators each.
The pardon offers the illegal expatriates exemptions from legal punishment and free home return flights.
Among the repatriated workers were 2,529 Filipinos, 466 Sri Lankans, 233 from Ghana, 162 from Cameroon, 259 from Pakistan, 150 from Ivory Coast, 162 from Benin, 36 from Burkina Faso, 79 from Indonesia, and 176 from Madagascar.
