India has shared its concern with Kuwait on expat quota bill: MEA

India has shared its concern on the proposed expat quota bill with Kuwait’s foreign minister, Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

“We share excellent bilateral ties with Kuwait and our ties are deeply rooted in our people to people linkages. We have shared our expectation with Kuwait and they will take into consideration while taking further decisions,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a virtual press briefing.

Recently, the legal and legislative committee of Kuwait’s National Assembly had approved the draft expat quota bill which could result in 8 lakh Indians leaving the country.

The National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee determined that the draft expat quota bill is constitutional, Gulf News reported citing a local media report.

The Bill, according to which Indians should not exceed 15 percent of the population, is to be transferred to the respective committee so that a comprehensive plan is created.

The outlet reported that ‘this could result in 800,000 Indians leaving Kuwait, as the Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in Kuwait, totalling 1.45 million’. Of the 4.3 million population of Kuwait, expats account for 3 million.

The anti-expat rhetoric have spiked since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with lawmakers and governmental officials call for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait.

The report stated that ‘last month, Kuwait’s prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah, proposed decreasing the number of expats from 70 percent to 30 percent of the population’.

Source: ANI