Kuwaiti MPs wearing protective masks arrive to a parliament session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City. AFP
Kuwaiti MPs wearing protective masks arrive to a parliament session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City. AFP
Kuwaiti MPs wearing protective masks arrive to a parliament session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City. AFP
Kuwaiti MPs wearing protective masks arrive to a parliament session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City. AFP

Kuwait approves foreign worker quota bill


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Kuwait’s National Assembly committee has approved a draft law proposing a quota for the number of foreign workers that live in the country, designed to change the country's demographic ratio in favour of Kuwaitis.

The bill states that the Indian expatriate community – one of the largest in the country – should not exceed 15 per cent of the national population, which means about 800,000 of them could be required to leave the country.

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Sabah said last month that the country would like the number of foreign workers to drop from 70 per cent of the population to 30 per cent. This would mean a cut of about 2.5 million expat workers.

Foreigners account for nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million people, and that’s a “big imbalance, and we have a future challenge to redress this imbalance,” Sheikh Sabah told the top editors of local newspapers.

The bill will now be referred to the concerned committee for consideration

In June, state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries said the employment of foreign workers would be banned for the year 2020-21. There are similar plans for government and civil service jobs.

Last year, MP Safa Al Hashem said it was essential to have Kuwaitis number more than 50 per cent of the country’s population.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled for later this year, and anti-foreign worker rhetoric is attractive to some voters, especially when it concerns well-paid government jobs. At the end of 2019, only 19 per cent of the Kuwaiti workforce was in the private sector.

Foreigners have also accounted for the majority of Kuwait’s coronavirus cases as the disease spread among migrant workers living in overcrowded labour camps.

T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures

Tuesday, October 29

Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE

Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman

Wednesday, October 30

Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one

Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two

Thursday, October 31

Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four

Friday, November 1

Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one

Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two

Saturday, November 2

Third-place playoff, 2.10pm

Final, 7.30pm

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Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa

3/5

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Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
​​​​​​​two stars

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHakbah%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENaif%20AbuSaida%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESaudi%20Arabia%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E22%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-Series%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGlobal%20Ventures%20and%20Aditum%20Investment%20Management%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

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Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford

Four stars

Brief scores:

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