KUWAIT: Despite
the interior ministry's measures to deport residency law violators, the
residency affairs department's data showed a rise in iqama violators, who
reached 115,000 by Wednesday, compared to around 107,700 violators in April
2018, an increase of seven percent, Al-Qabas daily reported yesterday, quoting
sources. The grace period given to violators to leave or correct their status
in 2018 resulted in reducing their number to 107,000 after 58,000 took
advantage of the amnesty, according to interior ministry numbers.

But during the 16
months since the grace period expired, the number of violators has gone up,
reaching 115,000 in the database of the residency affairs department, the
sources noted. The interior ministry is monitoring the violators and is
preparing a plan to confront their rising numbers, and there will be campaigns
to round them up.

Meanwhile, Al-Rai
daily quoted informed sources who said the process of deporting expats from
Kuwait is costly and is borne by the interior ministry. The sources said the
cost of deporting expats is around $3.7 million, adding that this amount will
be included within the financial allocations of the interior ministry, without
alluding to any additional details with regards to the number of those
deportees or the period.

In other news,
government sources said there are plans to regulate electronic publications and
place strict rules that limit chaos caused by some bogus accounts, Al-Rai
reported yesterday. The sources said accounts will be dealt with very strictly
and will not be allowed to compromise social harmony and spread doubts about
others' integrity. They said a review of the electronic publication laws is
being conducted to close some loopholes in some items.