KUWAIT CITY, Aug 28: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and State Minister for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh, in response to the wave of accusations concerning the presence of expatriates in her ministry, revealed through her Twitter feed that she has ten consultants in her office and all of them are Kuwaitis, reports Al-Nahar daily.

In her statement, the minister explained that the presence of expatriates in her ministry is due to the continuous development of automated work to facilitate transactions for clients. This requires expertise in the computer systems through contracting with expatriates or with specialized companies.

She stressed that the reforms she achieved in the past require follow-ups and improvements.

Concerning the consultants, Al-Sabeeh affirmed the need for seeking the expertise of expatriates especially in the legal department.

According to the statistics issued for the current month (August) by the Public Authority for Civil Information, 93 percent of the workforce in the ministry is Kuwaitis while expatriates constitute only seven percent.

Deportation

Meanwhile, a study called for the deportation of 800,000 expatriates who are working in marginal jobs in the country with the aim of achieving population balance. On the other hand, the Public Authority for Manpower, in coordination with Ministry of Interior, is seeking to form a committee to review the decision for deportation of expatriates with pending absconding cases filed after Jan 4, 2016, after the huge increase in such cases.

In the same context, informed sources revealed about an agreement between the Public Authority for Manpower and Ministry of Interior to form the committee, which will be in charge of looking into the humanitarian aspects and the possibility of enabling those with pending absconding cases to rectify their status.

According to the study on this issue, the 800,000 expatriates affected by the deportation decisions for absconding are either victims of visa trade or suffer from contagious diseases, or had committed crimes such as theft, prostitution or forgery.

The study also highlighted an interesting fact that almost all marginal expatriates would not have entered Kuwait if it were not for corruption, administrational and conscience disorder. Majority of them were duped by people who have no regard for the welfare of the nation, let alone its reputation.

However, if the government succeeds in deporting the marginalized workforce and victims of visa trading who are estimated to be around 800,000, the ratio of Kuwaitis to expatriates will be reduced from 2:2 to 1:4. That way, the population structure will improve.

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