KUWAIT: According to the interior ministry's residency affairs directorate statistics, 19,730 expats of various nationalities were deported in 2016, ie 54 a day, who have no right to return to Kuwait unless they are granted an exemption by the interior minister. The statistics showed that over 1,000 expats had been deported on direct orders of the interior ministry's assistant undersecretary for passports and citizenship affairs Maj Gen Mazen Al-Jarrah, 2,741 were deported by airport authorities and 15,896 by the deportation department.

Statistics also showed that 11,191 expats were blacklisted for sponsoring others and issuing various types of visas, be they for domestic helpers or dependents. In addition, statistics showed that 880 companies had been inspected and 526 were closed down, including three owned by first-degree relatives of former ministers and lawmakers.

Moreover, statistics showed that 46,609 absconding reports were filed, mainly concerning male employees, including around 20,551 drivers. Well-informed sources stressed that deportees included a number of US and British citizens, in addition to seven PhD holders. The sources also noted that 9,574 expats were deported because they were medically unfit, including 13 infected with HIV and a considerable number infected with hepatitis C. - Al-Qabas