‘Amnesty’ seen to fix labor shortage

KUWAIT CITY, April 24: In light of the severe shortage of expatriate workers that the labor market is currently experiencing in most sectors, especially the craftsmen and other professions, sources quoting senior officials at the Public Authority for Manpower revealed that there is a perception that the authority is studying the implementation of some laws in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Interior, reports Al-Jarida daily.

The laws are expected to give an opportunity for violators of the residence and labor laws, who are currently inside Kuwait, to legalize their stay.

The sources stated that this perception requires the Ministry of the Interior to grant these workers a grace period to adjust their situations, similar to the ministry’s deadline for violators in February 2020 to leave the country, stressing that this procedure will push tens of thousands of violators to correct their status, which would compensate for the existing shortage in many professions and sectors, and according to Interior Ministry estimates about 130,000 violators of residence law live in the country at the moment.

The sources said after the end of the grace period extensive field campaigns will be launched in all regions to control and deport expatriates who do not take the initiative to adjust their status and they will not be allowed to enter the country again.

The sources explained that the goal of this vision is twofold – it will contribute to solving the issue of violators and meeting the market needs of labor by allowing business owners to benefit from those who are actually present in the country, expecting the market to witness a wide breakthrough if the vision is applied, especially in light of the presence of thousands of violating and loose workers who work illegally and the country does not benefit from them, especially in terms of paying the annual fees for renewal and transfer of their residence permits in addition to health insurance fees.