Kuwait could expel 8 lakh Indians if new Quota Bill gets approved: Report

Indians form nearly 50% of the expat community in Kuwait, where a new Quota Bill seeks to limit the number of Indians in the country to not more than 15 percent of its population.

Moneycontrol News

July 06, 2020 / 12:44 IST

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Kuwait government’s new anti-expatriate policy may displace up to eight lakh Indians. Notably, of the gulf country’s three-million-strong expat population, Indians constitute 1.45 million, around 800,000 of whom could reportedly be forced to leave.

The Kuwait National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee has approved a draft ‘Quota Bill’, which aims to expel a significant portion the country’s expat population, Mint reported.

Indians being the largest group are facing the biggest impact, and the bill states that no more than 15 percent Indians can be a part of the expat population.

The move is also in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah’s statement in June, which proposed to reduce Kuwait’s expat population from 70 percent to 30 percent. Lawmakers and government officials have grown increasingly vocal against foreigners in the country after the coronavirus pandemic, the report added.

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