Authorities in Kuwait have begun evicting expat tenants from private accommodation owned by citizens of the Gulf state, it was reported, in the latest example of the country’s war on foreign workers.
According to the English language Kuwait Times, municipal authorities have started searching houses and villas owned by Kuwaitis that have been rented out to expats.
Sources at the municipality told the newspaper that officials were seeking to evict those in dwellings designated as ‘private housing’, but were actually being rented out to multiple occupants.
According to the newspaper, residential buildings that are rented out expats must be classified as ‘investment accommodation’. The sources said many of the private dwellings in question were being occupied by single expats and often included partitioned rooms.
Five months ago Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Thekra Al Rasheedi revealed Kuwait would cut expat numbers by 100,000 each year over the next decade in order to reduce the total number from about 2.6m – two-thirds of the total population – to 1.6m.
Expatriates that commit repeat traffic offences also are being deported in a targeted crackdown.
Oil-rich but infrastructure-poor Kuwait is home to a huge number of blue collar workers, mostly from the Indian Subcontinent and other Arab countries. They mainly occupy menial positions, such as taxi drivers and builders.
Follow us on
