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Kuwait may restrict work permits of certain nationalities
Kuwait plans to limit work permits of few nationalities, following violent protests over pay that led to deportation of several hundreds of Bangladeshi workers, revealed a government Minister on Sunday.
According to Bangladeshi airport officials, more than thousand Bangladeshis have been deported from Kuwait, with several hundreds yet to face a similar situation. Several Bangladeshi cleaners and workers had staged demonstrations demanding better pay and working conditions due to record inflation of about 11 percent. The protest turned violent until the government entered into an agreement to end the strike, and soon after several hundred had been deported.
The Social and Labour Minister, Bader Al-Duwaila on Sunday said that the government plans to limit some nationalities. When a certain nationality surpasses others, there should be a fair distribution of working nationalities in the country.
Currently, expatriates constitute two-third of Kuwaiti population of the 3.2mn. The Cabinet will discuss a proposal to introduce a monthly wage of Dh.40 for cleaners and Dh.70 for civilian security staff to improve workers’ pay, he revealed.
Even the residency permit dealers would be tackled, by introducing several measures against them, Al-Duwaila assured.
In the meanwhile, the Bangladesh embassy is awaiting the implementation of new conditions adopted by the authorities, which is likely to improve the pay and living conditions of the workers. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour recently accepted demands by workers and is considering a minimum wage of KD40 salary for cleaners, apart from the companies owning responsibility of paying the residences and healthy fees.
An official at the Ministry revealed that the embassy has been receiving plenty of calls from Bangladeshi workers, who are curious to know if their demands will be accepted. The embassy said it is in constant touch with Bangladesh authorities to deal with the workers’ issue. It has been revealed that about three hundred workers who were arrested pertaining to violent demonstrations have been released after the authorities gave them a clean chit.
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