The Kuwait Society for Human Rights issued a statement a couple of days ago on the recent decision not to renew work permits for people over 60 years old. The statement was done with Google Translate and not edited so a lot of it doesn’t make sense, but the gist of it is there. One of their main arguments is that some people have lived all their lives in Kuwait with only a passport connecting them to a different place and so it would be inhumane to force them out especially since a lot come from countries that are unstable.
They also share their recommendations on what needs to be done including the need to abolish the kafala system which I’m hearing a lot of support for. I’m not sure how influential the society is in Kuwait maybe someone can let me know in the comments, but I feel like they lost an opportunity here to get support from international media outlets by not editing their Google Translated statement. Maybe someone could volunteer to edit it and send them an updated version.
If you can read Arabic then I’d recommend you check out their Arabic release here, if you don’t read Arabic then here is a link to their English statement.
13 replies on “Abolish the Kafala System and Allow Expats Over 60 to Stay”
The Public Authority of Manpower announced recently about some changes to be announced soon regarding the none renewal of residencies of over 60.
Most probably it will be higher residency fees alongside required private health insurance.
Fees most likely similar to dependent visa fees of people over 60.
http://alwatan.kuwait.tt/articledetails.aspx?id=638378&yearquarter=20212
https://gulfbusiness.com/kuwait-mulls-renewing-work-permits-for-expats-aged-over-60-in-certain-cases/
all human rights issues are completely valid, but what boggles the mind is that this is just bad for business.
expats aged over 60 who have valid work permits and work visas are part of the economy. getting rid of them is bad for business and bad for the economy. if they weren’t productive, their sponsors would have fired them. the fact they are valuable at that age to their sponsors means they are highly productive and difficult (perhaps impossible) to replace.
only visa traders benefit from churn. this is bad for the economy, bad for human rights.
This is a decade of populist politicians created by our negligence in early 2000s. Populist will do anything to get votes and cash of uneducated crowd. After they get rid of last expat, they will go after Bedouins and then after whatever they find vulnerable and easy to blame. I think its a mass phenomena happening everywhere- not only Kuwait. Maybe its time to get a proper voting system based on IQ instead of anger,stupidity and instagram.
http://chng.it/J4k5vvPPWN
Give the petition a look!
Unfortunately this country is on the path of self-destruct. As if the health bill of expats over 60 is what’s gonna make or break the country! A few locals stole & drained the bank accounts of the country from oil sector or retirement funds! You name it.
No vision & hence coming the last in everything! What a sad story to share & tell for future generations! Adios Kuwait!
I don’t understand how these lawmakers pass rules without giving a time frame or even thinking about how an expat contributed to the country since it was just dust. Do you think an expat can afford 2,000 KD apart from private health insurance?
If it’s like this, by the end of the year half the expat population is going to leave the country.
***DELETED BY ADMIN. HATEFUL AND RACIST COMMENTS WON’T BE ALLOWED HERE***
***DELETED BY ADMIN. HATEFUL AND RACIST COMMENTS WON’T BE ALLOWED HERE***
why you deleted my post? I am in favor of your government decision, I support it.
did you delete my post as racist? really? so your government is racist?
You’re racist not the government.
my comment is in favor of the government decision. I support, you don’t
I don’t give a shit what you favor, any racist comments will be deleted.
My Dad (84) who has dedicated over 40 years of his life to Kuwait is in a similar situation. He’s married to my Mom (Kuwaiti) and relies on her for the family residency. However, if something were to happen (god forbid) to my Mom, I (an expat woman) would not be able to provide him with a residency. Apparently expat woman are not able to extend their residencies to their families. This is an issue, even to someone like me – half Kuwaiti. We have almost, if not, the same rights as a complete expat.