MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / June 13, 2013) – A Philippine migrant rights group Migrante reported that Kuwait has started a massive crackdown against illegal migrants and searching house-to-house.
Migrante vice chairperson John Leonard Monterona said over 1,000 expatriate workers were rounded up in New Farwaniya, Jleeb, a populous district in Kuwait and that 203 more had been detained in Hawalli district during a recent raid.
“This crackdown on illegal migrants causes so much fear not only to undocumented Filipino workers, but as well as to those who are legally staying and working in Kuwait as there were reports of a number of legal or documented Filipinos apprehended by Kuwaiti authorities,” Monterona, who is also Migrante’s coordinator in the Middle East and North Africa, said.
He said at least 20 Filipino workers have been apprehended and this even though some of them have legal papers and properly documented with Kuwait-issued civil IDs.
Monterona likened the latest Kuwaiti campaign to the Saudi crackdown on illegal workers.
“Like Saudi Arabia, the crackdown by the Kuwait authorities has something to do in getting rid the country from expatriate workers who comprise around 69% of Kuwait’s 3.9 million population,” Monterona said.
Just on April, Saudi authorities have launched a massive crackdown on illegal expatriate workers. Weeks after, the Saudi King ordered a halt and announced a 90-day grace period to allow the documentation and legalization of all illegal migrants following appeals from the private sector and migrant organizations.
Kuwait is reportedly planning to cut on hiring or reduce the number expatriate workers to as much as 100,000 starting this year.
Monterona said many expatriate workers, who are mostly in the construction and services industries, including household service workers, are undocumented after running away due to alleged employer’s labor rights violations, abuses and maltreatment.
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