KUWAIT CITY, Dec 11: Egypt has yet to issue an official statement regarding the decision of Kuwait to stop issuing work permits for Egyptians effective Sept 17, while sources from the Ministry of Manpower in Egypt confirmed the ongoing consultations with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the decision; which is being dealt with carefully as it is part of the internal affairs of Kuwait, reports Al-Rai daily. Sources told the daily that “the vision will be clear upon the completion of consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then a statement might be issued to clarify the situation for those who previously obtained visas or how to deal with the manpower requests that the ministry received from Kuwaiti authorities, the latest of which was the request for doctors and nurses for a medical center.”

Request
Meanwhile, Member of the Egyptian Parliament Muhammad Al-Samoudi disclosed that through the Parliament speaker, he submitted a request for the Ministry of Manpower to give a briefing on the Kuwaiti decision.

He said “the authorities in Kuwait stopped the issuance of work permits for Egyptians until further notice, that is, one day after suspending the electronic link memorandum between the two countries. According to the Kuwaiti authorities, the decision was taken for several reasons, the most important of which is to improve the system in order to control the recruitment of workers from Egypt, as well as to strictly apply laws to regulate the labor market. We understand the decision of the Kuwaiti authorities, as they have absolute freedom to decide whatever they deem appropriate concerning their internal affairs, but this decision will negatively affect Egyptian workers.

The Ministry of Manpower remained silent and has not issued any comment or official statement on a decision affecting Egyptian workers. It neither clarified decision nor announced steps taken to communicate with the Kuwaiti side. I urge the ministry to contact its Kuwaiti counterpart to protect the rights of both parties and regulate the recruitment of Egyptian workers, taking into consideration the fraternal and historical relations between the two countries.

This will lead to satisfactory solutions, similar to what a number of other countries that send workers to Kuwait, have done.” In a related development, the Kuwaiti decision has become a hot topic among Egyptians; while the smooth fl ow of traffic in the usually congested vicinity of the Kuwaiti Embassy at the Nile Corniche in Dokki has been one of the remarkable changes observed since the issuance of the decision.