Kuwait to deport foreigners who go on strike
Agence France-Presse – 04 May, 2008
www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=399554&news_type=Top&lang=en
The Gulf state of Kuwait warned on Saturday that it will deport foreigners
who instigate gatherings and strikes and will arrest and prosecute the
participants.
“The ministry has noticed recently that some Arab and foreign communities
resort to gatherings and strikes for various reasons, which are illegal
actions and undermine security,” the interior ministry said in a statement
cited by the official KUNA new agency.
“The ministry will take necessary measures to arrest and prosecute
participants in such gatherings and will deport those proved to have
instigated others,” it warned.
The statement comes after the authorities earlier this week deported about a
dozen Bangladeshi cleaners who were charged with instigating a strike by
hundreds of fellow workers to demand payment of salaries.
The workers, hired by a local private company under contract with the
education ministry, claimed they had not been paid for the past five months
and their residence permits expired a year ago.
Foreigners living and working in Kuwait can be deported under a court ruling
and under so-called administrative deportation which is controlled by senior
interior ministry officials.
Administrative deportation has been strongly criticised by human rights
groups as “illegal” because expatriates have no right to appeal its
decisions.
There are around 2.35 million foreigners in the oil-rich emirate and a
native population of just over one million.
