MoI says Bangladeshis not hired for security or police duties

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KUWAIT CITY, July 20, (Agencies): Contrary to what has been shown on the social media, the Minister of Interior employs skilled blue collar Bengali workers to carry out manual labor requirements of the Ministry excluding security and police work, a ministry statement said on Wednesday.

These Bengali workers are often electricians, auto mechanics, engine repairmen, painters, carpenters and so on and have nothing to do with the Ministry of Interior’s security and police operations, said the statement.

They have been employed in implementation of an agreement between the Kuwait Ministry of Defense and the Republic of Bangladesh, indicated the statement, noting that about 293 of these workers and technicians have already started working in the Ministry of Interior.

It is expected that about 350 more will be employed annually for the next three years as per the agreement between the Ministry and Bangladesh, emphasized the statement while underscoring that these workers are all skilled in their fields of endeavor.

The ministry statement cannot stress more that these workers are not officially associated in any way with ministry security or police duties. They are not allowed to use police cruisers, only ministry service vehicles and vans. Meanwhile, earlier a local Arabic daily Al-Rai said, Kuwait seems to have depleted its human resources such that it has resorted to the recruitment of policemen from Bangladesh, reports Al-Rai daily.

This came after reaching an agreement with a British company to protect passengers at Kuwait International Airport, thereby, changing the direction of the Interior Ministry towards Bangladesh. From now on, it is no longer surprising to see Bangladeshi policeman wearing Kuwaiti police uniform.

Without any statement from the Security Media Department, the ministry confirmed the deployment of the first batch of officers its different facilities. It signed a three-year contract with Bangladesh for the recruitment of about 1,000 Bangladeshi police officers to carry out security tasks in Kuwait.

A security source revealed this will fill the shortage of police officers in sectors with technical nature such as construction, Coast Guard, Special Forces, borders security etc, and most of them carry out logistics, technical and support tasks clad in the Interior Ministry uniform with the ranks and logos.

The source wondered why the ministry did not announce taking such as step in order to avoid doubts or problems that may surface due to suspicion around these personnel while they are on duty wearing Kuwaiti police uniform.

The source added a Kuwaiti police officer in one of the ministry departments recently stopped a group of Bangladeshis in the Maintenance Department as he suspected them of impersonating police before it became clear that they are among the group hired from Bangladesh.

The source said 250 personnel arrived from Bangladesh including 120 deployed to the Coast Guard. This batch is headed by lieutenant colonel and their ranks range from major to lower ranks.

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