Study calls for deporting terminated expat workers

Kuwait Upto Date • May 1, 2016 • 0 Comments

Kuwait is studying a proposal to force a foreign worker to leave the country if he or she is sacked by their employer, according to sources, who explained that this step comes as the state mulls ways to cut its expatriate population.

Under the current law, a worker who loses his job has three months to find another one or leave the country. This condition allows expatriate workers to remain in Kuwait, hampering efforts to adjust the country’s demographic imbalance, according to a recent study presented to the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (SCPD).

In order to make the proposed condition applicable, a worker would only be entitled to his financial claims once he terminates his residency visa and leaves the country, the study suggests.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, declined to provide the source of this controversial study. They also did not clarify whether it includes workers in both the public and private sectors.

The study suggests that an expatriate worker is terminated because his employer no longer needs his services, and thus his stay in Kuwait “puts further pressure on public services” and becomes unfeasible. However, recent studies give different indications with regards to the labor market’s needs of foreign workers, particularly in the private sector.

Source : Kuwait Times