Table of Contents
EXPAT BILL
- Over 8 lakh Indians could be forced out of Kuwait if a new bill on expats is enacted into law, the Gulf News reported.
- The legal and legislative committee of Kuwait’s National Assembly has approved the draft expat quota bill, according to which Indians should not exceed 15% of the population.
- Anti-expat rhetoric has been on the rise since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
EXPAT BILL
- The bill has been deemed constitutional and will now be transferred to the respective committee so that a comprehensive plan is created, according to reports.
- Of the 4.3 million population of Kuwait, expats account for 3 million. The Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in Kuwait, totaling 1.45 million, the report added.
MIGRATION
- The possibility of a migrant exodus from West Asia is not new. Many countries in the Gulf region have been trying to replace expats in their workforce with locals.
- Saudi Arabia launched nitaqat — a Saudisation scheme which introduced quotas in the workforce — in 2011. Recently, Oman had proposed a phased reduction of expats in its workforce.
ALL IS WELL BACK THEN
- Expat workers flocked to Gulf countries to build and run those economies following the oil boom in the 1960s and ’70s.
- They were welcomed mainly because the local population lacked the necessary skills, or the will, to meet the needs of the new economy.
- The Subcontinent was a major beneficiary of this economic boom as it exported both skilled and unskilled workers.
HELPED ECONOMY
- Kerala, for instance, built on its historic relations with the region to plug in to the Gulf economy. Remittances from the Gulf boosted the Kerala economy, even funding its welfare net, while also helping to check unemployment in the state.
- Even before the pandemic, two main factors seemed to be driving a change in this symbiotic relationship that has lasted nearly five decades and benefited both regions. HELPED ECONOMY
- One, the national economies in the Gulf are slowing down, forcing companies to lay off people. Two, these countries now host a large indigenous population in the working-age segment that needs jobs.
- While the nationalisation of the workforce is an ambitious project, it is doubtful if the emirates, with small populations and even smaller pools of skilled workers, can keep the largely consumption-driven economies afloat without expat workers.
NOW WHAT?
- Last week, it announced Dream Kerala, a project to support the returning workers, to augment the existing welfare measures for NRIs.
- Over 1.5 lakh people have returned from the Gulf countries after the outbreak of COVID-19, of which close to 70,000 have lost jobs. The challenge is enormous and can only get bigger in the coming months.
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