Kuwait City: On Tuesday, Kuwait’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the return of domestic workers stuck abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Al Anba reported.
The government has given permission to the Corona Emergency Committee, headed by the Minister of Interior, to prepare a report on the return policy.
A source told Al Anba the Minister of Health, Dr Basel Al Sabah, will take part in the health committee meeting to review and prepare the proposal.
In addition, the committee will work on finalising the procedures and requirements for the return of domestic workers to ensure the safety of all. As for residency permits, the source said only those with valid permits or whose sponsors renewed their permits online will be able to enter the country.
Several domestic workers have been stranded abroad due to the travel ban imposed on 34 countries. A majority of domestic workers in Kuwait are from banned countries like India, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Ban on new recruitment of domestic workers
With regards to the recruitment of new domestic workers, the source said they are reviewing the proposal and will discuss it with the Corona Emergency Committee, which will then pass it on to the Cabinet of Ministers for their approval.
For almost nine months now, Kuwait has put a ban on recruiting domestic workers from 25 countries, 23 of which are African and the other two are Indonesia and Bhutan.
This is not the first time Kuwait has placed a ban on recruitment of domestic workers from abroad.
In April 2019, Kuwait added Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the list of banned countries bringing the total to 20. According to Migrant Rights, the bans are put in place mainly due to the fact that these countries lack embassies and labour corporations in Kuwait.
