Cairo: Kuwait’s labour authorities have set up a system allowing registration as absentees against foreigners, who have entered the country on work permits, but have not completed procedures to obtain an iqama or residency permit, a Kuwaiti newspaper has said.
The new system was devised by the Kuwaiti Public Authority of Manpower with the aim of arresting expatriate violators and looking into the absentee cases to specify problems and solve them, Al Anba added, citing unidentified sources.
“There are nearly 1,000 absence cases being examined by the inspection department,” the sources said.
Under Kuwaiti law, the labourer against whom an absence complaint has been filed by an employer has the right to object in two months’ time since the date of the complaint registration, the sources added.
“After the expiry of the dateline without the worker’s feedback, the file is referred to police of residency affairs to take the necessary legal action,” they said.
The legal procedures include an arrest warrant and deportation of the worker, according to the sources.
Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s overall population of 4.6 million.
In recent months, there have been increasing calls in Kuwait for curbing foreigners’ employment along accusations that migrant workers have strained the country’s infrastructure facilities amid economic repercussions from COVID-19.
Kuwaiti authorities have recently stepped up a security clampdown on expatriate violators of the country’s residency and labour laws.
