KUWAIT CITY, Oct 29: The Cabinet requires the Interior Ministry to prepare a plan to reduce the problem of marginal workers in the country, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily quoting security sources explained the study will focus on suggestion that expatriate personnel should constitute 45 percent of the entire population of Kuwait, where a quota of this category will be allotted for each community to balance the workforce, as per regulations and decision of the United Nations (UN). The plan will help stabilize the situation of expatriates when the segment is finally allotted specific periods of stay in the country, based on academic specifications.

Sources said marginal workers will be allotted six years, eight years for technical personnel of average skill, ten years for technical personnel of average skill who are married, and an unspecified period for personnel of rare specialties.

The study will concentrate on the mechanism of selecting and granting work permits to expatriate personnel on the basis of efficiency and technical know-how, in addition to laws that penalize sponsors or companies in case the worker’s rights are violated, sources added. Also, the transfer of various kinds of visit visas to work permits will not be accepted by the concerned authorities, with the exception of the holders of academic certificates and businessmen. Moreover, those coming to the country on visit visas will be required to apply for health insurance, whereas individuals entering the country will be fingerprinted at the airport for record, sources indicated.

It is said the ministry will look into immediate procedures that will be taken against illegal residents in the country to reduce their number. It also stresses the need to identify the accurate addresses of expatriate personnel for the sake of total security.