No amnesty for illegal residents ... #Kuwait : The Interior Ministry has no plans to give an amnesty in the near future for expatriates living illegally in Kuwait, as senior official confirmed. Reports early this year had suggested that Kuwait considered announcing an amnesty during the summer. An amnesty would allow illegals to legalize their status and would forgive them fines for overstaying. The plan aimed to reduce the number of illegal residents in Kuwait after they reportedly exceeded 100,000 by the end of 2013 according to official statistics. The last time an amnesty period was adopted was in 2011, when nearly 42,000 benefited from exceptions provided by the Interior Ministry for four months. The ministry’s General Department for Residency Affairs has so far not submitted a proposal in this regard, which suggests that an amnesty decision is not likely to happen this year, said Major General Sheikh Mazen Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, the Assistant Undersecretary for Citizenship and Passports Affairs. Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, the Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Acting Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, is the person authorized to make such a decision, Sheikh Mazen told Al-Anba daily. He further estimated the current number of illegal residents in Kuwait at around 90,000, adding that crackdowns to arrest and deport illegals are ongoing. On that regard, Al-Qabas daily reported yesterday that around 15,000 expatriates were arrested this year for violating labor and residency regulations, according to official statistics as of August 31st. Around 5,000 among the detainees were deported, whereas nearly 9,000 were released after their sponsors legalized their status. The remaining 1,000 remain in police custody pending legal procedures. Aviation companies refuse to take deportees on their flights except Kuwait Airways; which takes a maximum five deportees per flight for security reasons, said a source quoted in the report. Meanwhile, Sheikh Mazen confirmed that the ministry is still studying the idea of increasing the minimum wage for expatriates to be eligible to issue dependency visas to family members to KD 400. The current minimum salary is KD 250. - Via .Kuwait Times ..
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 05:07:12 +0000
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