KUWAIT: MP AhmadAl-Fadhl yesterday warned against "too large" expatriate communities,saying they could pose a security threat and also highlighted what he calledlow qualifications of most expatriates in the country. The lawmaker said he hasno problem with expatriates coming and working in Kuwait, but there is acertain risk in the large numbers of some communities, adding that Indians,Egyptians, Bangladeshis and Syrians form more than half of the 3.4 millionforeigners living in Kuwait.
Fadhl said basedon latest available figures, Kuwaitis number just 1.42 million, or about 30percent of the population, while expats form the remaining 70 percent. He saidthat the Indian community totals some 900,000, Egyptians 600,000, Bangladeshisaround 200,000 and Syrians some 145,000, and together they constitute more than50 percent of all expatriates, who hail from 120 nationalities. He said therapid growth in the numbers of individual communities must be checked, becausethey pose a security danger to the country.
Fadhl also saidthat Kuwait is not attracting highly-qualified expatriates because these peopleprefer to go to United Arab Emirates or Qatar or Saudi Arabia, and as a result,the quality of expats in the country is not competitive. The lawmaker howeverruled out claims that expatriates compete against citizens for jobs, sayingthat a majority of jobs occupied by expatriates are not attractive to citizens.
He said some120,000 expats work in government jobs and these jobs fail to lure Kuwaitis,and accordingly expatriates in general do not take up jobs that should go toKuwaitis. He said the government should take measures to bring down the numbersof large communities and also prevent the concentration of large numbers offoreigners in residential areas. He praised the government for reducing thenumber of expats in Khaitan by some 70 percent over the past four months.
By B Izzak