Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Kuwait has drafted a plan to deport at least one million
foreign laborers over the next decade.

Officials said the Kuwaiti government in cooperation with the royal
family has drafted a plan to begin expelling at least 100,000 illegal
foreign laborers in 2013.

The officials said the plan, meant to reduce the huge expatriate population, would soon be announced by the Labor and Social
Affairs Ministry.

“Reforming the labor market is among the top priorities along with steps
to support national labor forces in the private sector,” Labor and Social
Affairs Minister Thekra Al Rashidi said.

The government has reported that 2.6 million of the nearly four million
people in Kuwait are foreigners. Most of the foreigners work in the service
and construction sectors.

Officials said the government plan called for the expulsion of at least
100,000 illegals every year for the next decade. They said the goal of the
program was to reduce the foreign population in Kuwait, which comprises more
than 90 percent of the labor force, to no more than 1 million.

On April 1, the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry implemented a decision
that blocked the conversion of visas to work permits in Kuwait’s private
sector. Officials said the decision was meant to limit the system of
sponsoring foreign workers and then transferring them from employer to
employer.

“This is part of efforts to regulate the expatriate labor forces and
address the demographic imbalance,” Ms. Al Rashidi said.

  000 illegal laborers per year, 2.6 million of Kuwait’s 4 million population are foreigners, Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, No amnesty: Kuwait to expel 100, Thekra Al Rashidi