Kuwait Lawmakers Planning On Making Expats’ Lives Even More Difficult

Kuwaiti lawmakers create more hassle for expats leaving the emirate.

As part of a proposed Kuwaiti parliament plan to deal with the emirate’s demographic imbalance and form an executive structure to support Kuwaitization, expats leaving the country must prove their departure or be denied an indemnity. The rule will apply whether the departure is the result of resignation or termination of a contract. Also in the proposal are refusals to grant expat licenses for a number of previously permitted professions as well as adjustments to expatriate communities whose numbers have grown over the past few years.

Lawmakers believe the government should announce a stronger stand against the residency trade as it forms the basis for societal imbalance in the emirate. Also recommended is a ban on the employment of expatriates in government agencies and ministries, with sources claiming many hundreds of expats are employed in the sector, thus preventing jobs being opened for Kuwaiti nationals.

Meanwhile, in an update on the death toll following the Sri Lankan bombing atrocity, a Dubai-based expat has been named as having lost her life in the blasts. Lorraine Campbell, staying in the Cinnamon Grand Hotel on a business trip, was breakfasting with a colleague in the restaurant when the explosion took both their lives, leaving her family and friends in grief and disbelief. Lorraine, known to her colleagues and friends as Loz, was a popular, positive influence on all who knew and loved her, and will be much missed as a mother, aunt and sister. Her colleague, also working with the Al Futtaim Group, was first listed as missing but has now been confirmed as having died.