Observer Report
New Delhi
A total of 0.8 million Indians could be forced to leave Kuwait as the country’s National Assembly committee has approved a draft expat quota bill seeking to reduce the number of foreign workers in the Gulf country.
The National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee has determined that the expat quota bill is constitutional.
According to the bill, Indians should not exceed 15% of the Kuwait’s total population. This could result in 8,00,000 Indians leaving Kuwait, as the Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in the country, totalling as 1.45 million, The Hindu reported.
The current population of Kuwait is 4.3 million, with Kuwaitis making up 1.3 million of the population, and expats accounting for 3 million.
It was proposed by Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah last month to reduce the number of expats from 70% to 30% of the population.
Amid a slump in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a spike in anti-expat rhetoric as lawmakers and government officials call for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait.
