Farwaniya Governor Sheikh Faisal Al-Humoud Al-Sabah

KUWAIT: Farwaniya Governor Sheikh Faisal Al-Humoud Al-Malik Al-Sabah joined voices calling for immediate deportation of illegal expatriates, saying that this would be the best solution to address the country's severe demographic imbalance and to alleviate pressure on public services.

"All concerned state departments must coordinate to fight the problem of marginal labor forces and adjust the demographic structure," Sheikh Faisal told Al-Rai daily, referring to unproductive illegal manpower. "There are three Arab and Asian communities that lead the way in terms of their numbers and the problems they commit, in addition to the fact that a large number of workers in each of these communities are in violation of residency laws, therefore deportation is the fastest and best solutions in my opinion."

"Farwaniya suffers more than any other governorate from those marginal workers, who are mostly bachelors," he added. "A quick tour around Hasawi, Jeleeb Al-Shuyiukh, and Khaitan will show you how much the law is being broken, with environmental, security and social violations that they commit, despite the fact that the state spends millions of dinars on services presented to them."

The governor further called for building more labor cities as soon as possible in order to 'isolate' bachelor works from areas where families live. He said that all labor cities should be provided with full services 'to guarantee human rights,' suggesting that this could be another solution taken simultaneously with deportation "especially that Kuwait plans mega projects that require skilled and law-abiding manpower." He added at the same time that workers' criminal records should be examined before recruitment. Nearly 70 percent of Kuwait's population of over 4.3 million are expatriates, according to official records that do not take into account illegal residents whose numbers are estimated between 100,000 and 120,000. - Al-Rai