Workers paid between KD 1,500 and KD 3,000 per visa

KUWAIT: Police received orders to arrest around 2,900 expatriates of various nationalities after 90 people who were arrested confessed they had paid bogus companies that signed contracts with various government bodies, Al-Anbaa daily reported yesterday quoting police sources. The deputy prosecutor for human trafficking questioned owners of the three companies and released them on bail, the sources added. Meanwhile, he jailed a Syrian man for being the mastermind of processing the government transactions that enabled the bogus companies to bring in this large number of laborers.

Sources said during a sudden inspection carried out by residency detectives in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, several expats were arrested with residencies with companies that have government contracts. When asked why they were not at work as the crackdown took place during regular working hours, they said they had paid in exchange for their visas, and were left to their own devices when they entered the country. Police reviewed the files of the companies, and discovered that the companies' offices were closed without any activity. The next surprise was finding the three companies brought in 3,000 people of various nationalities. The arrested workers said they paid between KD 1,500 and KD 3,000 per visa, and it was discovered that the majority of those brought in are Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Egyptians, with people from Pakistan paying KD 3,000 each, the sources said.

The government has in recent years beefed up efforts to fight human trafficking in Kuwait, yet the problem remains prominent. The US Department of State stated in its 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report released earlier this year that "the government of Kuwait does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so," the report reads. The report lists Kuwait in Tier 2 for "countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards." Kuwait was able to maintain its Tier 2 position for the third straight year, and avoid a downgrade thanks to devoting sufficient resources to implement a written plan that helps the country meet the minimum standards, according to the report.