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Kuwait completes amnesty formalities Gulf Round-up

DUBAI: The Kuwaiti authorities have completed all administrative formalities to facilitate the departure of those illegal expatriates who wish to make use of a time-bound amnesty awarded by the government.

Kuwait has granted a six-week amnesty, starting from September 1, which allows illegal expatriate residents to either legalise their status or exit the country without paying any fine. Indians form the majority of the 23 lakh foreign workers in Kuwait.

Those individuals who wish to legalise their status will be charged two dinars (around Rs.330) a day for the time they have overstayed after the expiry of their visas. Those who do not make use of the amnesty and are caught by the authorities will be deported and disallowed from re-entering the country.

In neighbouring Bahrain, the government on Thursday granted a time-bound amnesty for those expatriates who have been staying illegally in the country for less than a year. The move comes less than a year after Manama granted a general amnesty, between August 2007 and January 1, for all expatriates staying illegally in the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Labour Minister Majeed Al Alawi is expected to sign, during his coming visit to India, a memorandum of understanding governing the rights and working conditions of Indian expatriate workers employed in Bahrain.

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