Cairo: Kuwaiti police have arrested an Egyptian expatriate who has lived illegally in the country for around 25 years, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported, as authorities are pursuing a relentless clampdown on foreign illegals.
The man, named Ramses I, was arrested during a security campaign in the area of Al Mutla in Al Jahra governorate in western Kuwait, according to a security source.
“On examining a suspect’s identification documents, police found he has violated the residency law since 1998 and that he arrived at the country 29 years ago. He hasn’t since left,” the source said.
The 56-year-old violator has been working in the farm area of Al Mutla since 1995 and has been nicknamed by his colleagues “Ramses I” for being the oldest among them, the source added.
The man tried to escape from police, but they caught him and referred him to deportation authorities to get him a travel document from the Egyptian embassy in Kuwait before sending him home, the source said.
Kuwait has recently toughened measures against illegal foreign residents and warned that any expatriate sheltering an unlawful resident will be deported too.
Illegal residents are estimated at 150,000 in Kuwait.
Kuwaiti individuals or companies employing illegals will face charges of unlawfully sheltering and covering up illegals.
Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s overall population of 4.6 million.
The country is seeking to redress its demographic imbalance and replace foreign workers with its citizens as part of an employment policy dubbed “Kuwaitisation”.
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 the COVID-19 pandemic.
