Cairo: Kuwait’s security government last week arrested a total of 409 foreigners for violating the country’s residency and hard work laws, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported.
The arrests were made at security checkpoints and through cell patrols in Kuwait’s six governorates, Al Jaradia newspaper added.
Forty expatriates were arrested in connection with absenteeism reports filed through employers, according to the newspaper that presents safety statistics.
Some 164 more people without identity documents were also arrested in the campaign, which also revealed 53 drug-related offenses.
Kuwait has recently intensified its crackdown on illegal expatriates after extending the era of grace for offending citizens in order to readjust their status.
According to press reports, some 14,650 foreigners have entered Kuwait on visas in the last 3 years and have not left their home countries, increasing the number of illegal expatriates in Kuwait.
The Interior Ministry has pledged to continue security campaigns across the country to arrest illegal immigrants and outlaws.
The Gulf country is correcting its demographic imbalance amid the consequences of COVID-19. Foreigners make up only about 3. 4 million of Kuwait’s total population of 4. 6 million.
In recent months, calls have developed in Kuwait to restrict the employment of foreigners, along with accusations that migrants have tested the country’s infrastructure amid the economic fallout from the pandemic.
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