Kuwait’s ban applies only to domestic aides from Bangladesh, says State Minister Shahriar

Kuwait’s ban on recruiting Bangladeshis is applicable only for house helps, says State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam.

Speaking to bdnews24.com by phone on Tuesday from the Middle Eastern country, he said: “There’s no impact on overall work visas.”

He added that the ban is applicable only to Khadem Visa 20 that allows Kuwaiti nationals to employ foreigners as domestic workers.

Alam, who is on an official visit to Kuwait, met his counterpart on Monday and is scheduled to meet the Kuwaiti labour minister later on Tuesday.

According to the junior minister, nearly 300,000 Bangladeshis are in Kuwait on work visas and 80,000 people have migrated there since the country reopened its market in 2016.

But he said there were irregularities in the Khadim visa in collusion with the recruiting agencies of both sides.

“One household can bring one Khadim - this is the rule of that category, but the Kuwait interior ministry noticed that this rule had been breached. After coming to Kuwait, they had to take other jobs as only one can stay in a home,” he explained.

“We [Bangladesh government] are also against such irregularities,” he said.

Foreigners make up two thirds of Kuwait’s total population of 4.5 million with Indians being the largest expatriate community.

Middle Eastern media reported on Monday that Kuwait revived a ban on recruiting Bangladeshis.

Shahriar Alam, File Photo

Kuwait’s Interior Minister Shaikh Khalid Al Jarrah has ordered the ban and asked the interior ministry to apply it, Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda reported, citing a security source.

The Gulf News said the decision came in the wake of irregularities and abuses by traffickers in work and residency permits for Bangladeshis, whose numbers have increased remarkably following the recent lifting of the ban.

The Gulf News said Kuwait started hiring Bangladeshi workers in the mid-1970s.

However, in 2007, Kuwait stopped recruiting Bangladeshis over employment irregularities and involvement in illegal activities, according to the Gulf News report.

In 2014, the ban was removed, but two years later, in 2016, Kuwait banned recruiting male house helps following reports on irregularities.

It then slapped a stringent condition that a Kuwaiti citizen can bring in only one male domestic worker.