Specific expatriate communities have grown too large and they pose a security threat to the country, said parliamentarian Ahmad Al-Fadhl, while also highlighting the low educational and technical qualifications of expatriates.
He alleged that Indians, Egyptians, Bangladeshis and Syrians account for more than half of the 3.4 million expatriates from 120 nations living in Kuwait. The Indian community stands at around 900,000, Egyptians at 600,000, Bangladeshis at around 200,000 and Syrians at some 145,000, he pointed out.
He also added that the ‘quality of expats’ in Kuwait was ‘not competitive’, since highly-qualified expatriates prefer to go to UAE or Saudi Arabia, he said without clarifying why qualified expats choose to go elsewhere.
However, the MP admitted that expatriates did not compete against Kuwaitis citizens for jobs in the public sector, as most of the jobs taken up by foreigners were those that Kuwaitis were not eager or willing to do.