Kuwait MP Calls for Deportation of 1.4 Million Expats

Kuwaiti MP Dr Khalil Abdullah has called for the deportation of 280,000 expatriates per year for the next five years for resolving the imbalanced demographic in the country.

“There is a critical need to find solutions for the demographic situation in Kuwait. We need to have a Kuwaiti population that is at least equal to the number of foreigners who live in the country”, said the MP whose comments were published by the local daily Al Rai on Sunday. Expatriates with commendable contributions to the prosperity of the nation and experience should not be included in the mass-deportation, he said. Abdullah added that the cutting down of the number of expatriates would ease the pressure on the local infrastructure and would also help the local Kuwaiti men and women find employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors.

Last month another MP Abdullah Al Tamimi had called for the deportation of expatriates arguing that the country’s demographic balance required the imposition of a five-year cap with 20 per cent of foreigners leaving Kuwait every year.

According to official reports in January, the 1,242,490 Kuwaitis make up slightly less than one third (31.3 per cent) of the total population of 3,965,022. Foreigners from Asian countries make up 37.8 per cent of the total population whereas Arab communities make up 27.9 per cent of Kuwait’s foreign population. Expatriates from Africa, North America and Australia also form minority divisions of the Kuwaiti population.

Infoeditor