With various requirements governing the recruitment of expats in Kuwait already set in place, many public offices as well as those from the private sector have imposed stricter qualification requirements to “filter” workers who are to be allowed in the government or in the country, in general.
This move is deeply rooted on the national government’s goal to “nationalise” up to 80% of all working sectors in the country within five years’ time. This trend can also be noted in other Gulf nations in response to the oil crisis that have hit the region in the past few years.
Ministry Stops Recruitment of Expats on Certain Salary Contracts
In line with this, the Ministry of Public Works has announced that it has stopped the recruitment of expatriates on second, third or salary deduction contracts some years ago, as shared in a report by the Arab Times Online.
In a statement shared with the parliamentary, the ministry explained that the contracts of some expatriates are determined in accordance with the actual work requirement and these contracts are revised annually as per the replacement policy.
Furthermore, the ministry also noted that only seven expatriates have been appointed since 2017, pointing out that procedures for reducing the expatriates with low scientific qualifications are carried out by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
In other related news, as many as 19 young workers from Mangalaru, who were victims of a job fraud in Kuwait, and were stranded for about seven months in the country were able to return home from Mumbai on Friday (July 19).
These workers were recruited by a fake recruitment agency, which promised them of job pays of at least RS 40,000 per month.
However, when the workers reached the Gulf State on the first week of January, they were not given any work. Life turned bitterly for the worse since they had no job or money to take care of their needs.
Because of their situation, they decided to document their struggles through a video recording, which spread out via social media, and became their way find help from other expats living in Kuwait.
Also, the Indian embassy in Kuwait and Sibi U S, second secretary (Labour) at the embassy, reached out and extended their help to the Indian nationals.
According to a representative from the Indian Embassy, “This is the first such case where the situation was resolved for stranded victims in less than two months after they approached the Indian Embassy in a Gulf country. Otherwise, it takes more than six months to a year to complete the process, and to set the victims free.”