Kuwait to deport more expats over residency, labour violations
Authorities ramp up nationwide crackdown on illegal residents
Cairo: Nearly 400 illegal expatriates, rounded up this month in security campaigns, are set to be deported from the country that is pursuing a relentless clampdown on violators of its residency and labour rules.
The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said it had detained 385 unlawful residents and labour code violators in four days and will deport them.
They were arrested during the period of November 11-14.
Some 497 others have already been deported from the country, the ministry added without giving a timeframe.
Kuwait, a country of an overall population of 4.9 million people mostly foreigners, is seeking to redress its demographic imbalance and regulate the labour market.
Authorities there have recently mounted a nationwide security swoop on illegal foreign residents, who failed to take advantage of a three-month grace period to rectify their status.
The amnesty, which commenced in March, allowed illegal expatriates to readjust their residency status or leave willingly the country without paying fines. The deadline ended on June 30.
During the grace period, irregular expatriates, who had no passports, were able to leave Kuwait without having to pay a fine and are allowed to re-enter the country.
The unlawful resident with no travel document was also allowed to get a new one and use it for departure.
The deported violators are banned from re-entering Kuwait for life and other GCC countries for five years, according to media reports.
The Interior Ministry has vowed to spare no effort in tracking illegal residents and hold their employers accountable.
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