Eight lakh Indians may be forced to leave Kuwait after the nation approved the draft expat quota bill. The decision to make the foreign population proportional to the native population has now been approved by the Constitution. Kuwait has a population of 43 lakh people, of which 30 lakhs are foreign nationals. From now on, Kuwait will only allow a percentage of foreigners that is proportional to its native population of 13 lakhs. A large share of Kuwait’s foreign population is constituted by Indians. Currently, over 14 lakh Indian nationals reside and work in Kuwait, of which 8 lakhs are expected to leave the country.
In the Kuwait assembly, the bill that intends to reduce the number of foreigners was presented by Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem. Of the 33 lakh foreign nationals, 13 lakhs are mostly uneducated. Al-Ghanem hints that Kuwait will only allow entry to professionals. According to Kuwait’s expat quota bill, the country is about to introduce a Quota system for foreign workers which will reduce 70% of foreign nationals this year itself.
The employee quota will vary for each country. According to the bill, Indians should not exceed 15% of the Kuwait population. Egyptians should not exceed 10%. The bill became constitutional with the ratification of the National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee. Kuwait will now begin the implementation process as it goes to specific committees. According to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, 28,000 Indians work in the government sector while 5,23,000 Indians work in the private sector. More than 60,000 Indian students study in 23 Indian schools. Kuwait’s decision which forces 8 Lakh Indians to leave the country will have a major impact on the migrant community. For the 6 Lakh Malayali community in Kuwait, this is a crucial situation.
