A total of 8 lakh Indians may be forced to leave Kuwait as its National Assembly committee has approved a draft expat quota Bill seeking to reduce the number of foreign workers in the Gulf country.

What is the new Bill about?

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.

According to the Bill, Indians should not exceed 15 per cent of the population. This could result in 800,000 Indians leaving Kuwait, as the Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in the country. 

The National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee has determined that the expat quota Bill is constitutional.

The Bill will now be transferred to the respective committee so that a comprehensive plan is created. It proposes similar quotas for other nationalities. 

Indians in Kuwait

According to the ministry of external affairs, the presence of over one million Indian community members in Kuwait forms an important dimension in the bilateral ties. They are present in all segments of society in Kuwait.

According to the Indian embassy in Kuwait, there are about 28,000 Indians working for the Kuwaiti government in various jobs like nurses, engineers in national oil companies and a few as scientists.

The majority of Indians (5.23 lakh) are deployed in private sectors. In addition, there are about 1.16 lakh dependents. Out of these, there are about 60,000 Indian students studying in 23 Indian schools in the country.

Kuwait is a top source of remittances for India. In 2018, India received nearly $4.8 billion from Kuwait as remittances.

India has consistently been among the top ten trading partners of Kuwait. Bilateral trade registered a 2.7 per cent growth in FY 2018-19 and stood at $8.76 billion.

Why did Kuwait bring in the Bill?

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.

Last month, Kuwait’s Prime minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah proposed reducing the number of expats from 70 per cent to 30 per cent of the population, a report said.

Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem told Kuwait TV that he and a group of lawmakers will submit to the Assembly a comprehensive draft law calling for a gradual reduction of expats in Kuwait. “Kuwait has a real problem in its population structure, in which 70 per cent are expats,” the Speaker said. 

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