Kuwait’s New Expat Quota Bill – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

Kuwait Location

• A total of eight lakh Indians could be forced to leave Kuwait as its National Assembly committee has approved a draft expat quota bill seeking to reduce the number of foreign workers in the Gulf country.
• The National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee has determined that the expat quota bill is constitutional.

What does the bill say?

• According to the bill, Indians should not exceed 15% of the population. (could result in 8,00,000 Indians leaving Kuwait)

 Current Population of Indians in Kuwait:

• The Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in the country, totalling 14.5 lakh.
• The current population of Kuwait is 43 lakh, with Kuwaitis making up 13 lakh of the population, and expats accounting for 30 lakh.

Why is Kuwait taking such a step?

Reason No.1 : Coronavirus and Oil Prices

• Amid a slump in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a spike in anti-expat rhetoric as lawmakers and government officials call for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait.
• Last month, Kuwait’s PM Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah proposed reducing the number of expats from 70% to 30% of the population, the report said.

• Reason No.2: Migrants are mostly illiterate
• Kuwait has a real problem in its population structure, in which 70% are expats, the Speaker said, adding that what is more serious is that 13 lakh of the 30 lakh expats “are either illiterate or can merely read and write”, the people Kuwait does not really need, the Kuwait Times reported.
• “I understand that we recruit doctors and skilled manpower and not unskilled laborers. This is an indication that there is a distortion. Visa traders have contributed in increasing this figure

Reason No. 3: Foreigners account for majority Covid-19 cases

• Foreigners have accounted for the majority of Kuwait’s COVID-19 cases as the disease spread among migrant workers living in overcrowded housing.
• According to latest data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 49,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Kuwait.

Where do Indians Work in Kuwait?

• According to the Indian embassy in Kuwait, there are about 28,000 Indians working for the Kuwaiti Government in various jobs like nurses, engineers in national oil companies and a few as scientists.
• The majority of Indians (5.23 lakh) are employed in private sectors.
• In addition, there are about 1.16 lakh dependents.
• Out of these, there are about 60,000 Indian students studying in 23 Indian schools in the country.

India stands to lose remittances

• Kuwait is a top source of remittances for India.
• In 2018, India received nearly $4.6 billion from Kuwait as remittances.

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