Minister orders disclosure of all firms violating labor laws

‘Employees transferred for new visas’

KUWAIT CITY, April 9: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh ordered the disclosure of statistics conducted by the Immigration Investigation Unit over the past three years on companies in violation of the Labor Recruitment Law, which were blacklisted and then removed from the blacklist later, reports Al-Seyassah daily quoting a security source from the Residency Affairs General Department.

In an exclusive statement to the daily, the source revealed some individual establishments had more than 150 workers under their sponsorship; but two years later, these employees were found to be working under new sponsors. It turned out the companies which hired these workers applied for the recruitment of new labor force when the names of the old employees were removed from their sponsorship files, the source added.

According to the source, Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Lieutenant General Essam Al-Niham formed a team consisting of members from the Residency Affairs General Department. The team was tasked to prepare a list of all companies, individuals and small enterprises; in coordination with the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM).

The list includes the nationalities of employees, violations and security restrictions imposed on them, the source said.

The source revealed instructions issued by AlSaleh include preparing a list of establishments whose employees have left based on the amnesty decision which allows the departure of residency violators, in order to blacklist such establishments at the Ministry of Commerce and PAM as part of the new legal procedure that will take effect once the coronavirus crisis ends.