KUWAIT CITY, Feb 15: The General Immigration Depart-ment has deported about 1,000 expatriate workers over the last two months, reports Al-Rai daily quoting Director of Domestic Workers Unit at the department Colonel Abdullah Awadh Al-Ali.
Disclosing the deported workers took refuge in their embassies, Al-Ali said twice the number of the deported workers are still staying in Asian embassies as their cases are yet to be concluded or due to the non-cooperative stand of these embassies. He stated the Interior Ministry is reviewing the new domestic labor bill, which entails raise of monetary guarantee from KD 5,000 to KD 20,000 and possible transfer of domestic worker’s residence permit twice within the period of sponsorship.

Al-Ali declared the government has been proposing the establishment of a shareholding company for the recruitment of domestic workers in which the government, citizens and private office owners will own shares. He added the laborers will work within the specified number of hours.
Unveiling a plan to construct a shelter that can accommodate 1,000 people in place of the current one which has a capacity of only 50, Al-Ali pointed out this will prevent the domestic workers from seeking refuge in their embassies. “The network linking the department to the Central Information System assists in controlling the number of visas issued to domestic workers’ offices, especially since the system will not issue any visa unless the applicant has a unified number for the origin. This is part of the combined efforts to remove Kuwait from the international blacklist of human trafficking,” the senior immigration officer concluded.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has approved, in principle, the proposed establishment of a union for private workers syndicates, similar to those in the oil and public sectors, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting sources.
Clarifying the ministry is still studying the application regardless of the initial nod for the formation of the union, sources revealed the concerned department has been coordinating with other agencies like the Legislation Department and Ministry of Interior in this regard. Sources confirmed all the syndicates involved meet the criteria for the formation of the union. “Emergence of this union should not be a problem as its counterparts in the oil and public sectors are operating without any problem,” sources added.