Kuwait to reduce migrant population from 70% to 30%

According to a report, Kuwait prime minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah has said that the country’s expatriate population should be more than half, ie,30% of the total, as the coronavirus pandemic and a slump in oil prices weakened Gulf economies.

As foreigners account for nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million population, “we have a future challenge to redress this imbalance,” Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah told the top editors of local newspapers on Wednesday, according to an official statement reported by state-run KUNA.

“The percentage of domestic helpers alone is more than 50% of Kuwaitis, let alone the other residents,” said Sajed Al-Abdaly, a prominent political columnist. “Some statements are impossible from the moment they’re made. Your Excellency, talk to our minds so that you can help us to believe in the seriousness of your proposition.”

“We are responsible for everyone who lives on this land and the residency trade has exhausted the state,” he said, “especially when dealing with the current situation.”

He stressed that there are 750,000 foreign domestic helpers in the country, equivalent to half of the national Kuwaiti population of 1.45 million.According to KUNA report the prime minister added that he is infavour of the sons and daughters of Kuwaiti nationals to work in all professions.

On the coronavirus situation, the prime minister said, “The health of all citizens and the residents are more important than the economy, as we are facing a difficult equation. Thus, we work according to our available capabilities to narrow the gap and reduce the damage as much as possible by passing the economic package.”

A government official publicly recognizing contentious issues of Kuwait is rare. At the same time law makers are forcing the government to reduce the number of overseas workers, especially unskilled labour, with the economy under severe pressure.

Even as one of the region’s smallest stimulus packages providers Kuwait’s, National Bank SAK has predicted that the country’s budget shortfall would hike to 40 per cent of the gross domestic product in the fiscal year that started April 1, the most since the 1991 Gulf War and its aftermath.

Kuwait so far has reported 29,359 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 230 deaths.

Earlier,Kuwait Airways had decided to lay off 1,500 foreign employees due to “significant difficulties” caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The national carrier of Kuwait, which has a work force of 6,925 and has a fleet of 30 aircraft, has grounded almost all its flights due to the enforcement of lockdown.

“In dealing with the coronavirus crisis and its negative impact on commercial operations … Kuwait Airways announces the termination of around 1,500 non-Kuwaiti employees (contracts)” the airline said on Twitter.Struggling with financial difficulties, the airline earler had recieved financial aid from the government.But this time, the government has refused to give the airlines such help.