Kuwait’s Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, Hind Al-Sabeeh, has denied that her country plans to dismiss and deport around one million foreign workers in the public and private sectors, Moheet.com has reported. The minister pointed out that there have been no studies or discussions concerning the dismissal of foreign workers, only a demographic study of the Gulf State.
This, explained Al-Sabeeh, was conducted in Kuwait and looked at changes in the national gender balance, educational qualifications, social status and nature of work. It also happened to compare the number of Kuwaiti citizens to the number of foreign workers. She noted that the study made a number of conclusions and recommendations related to its findings.
Of the study’s 12 recommendations, one is for the state to consider the educational qualifications of potential foreign workers. Others include placing restrictions on domestic servants and reaffirming the use of fingerprints to be able to identify those prevented from entering the country.
The latest statistics show that the number of foreign workers in Kuwait stands at more than 3 million; more than half work in the private and public sector, with 650,000 working in domestic roles. There are also 750,000 dependents.