KUWAIT: Thirty-year-old Khalid (not his real name), from Syria, entered Kuwait with a commercial visa. He paid a company a large sum of money to receive the visa without the promise of a job. Khalid knew he was entering a fake company. For him though, entering Kuwait, even without a job, would be a step towards being reunited with his wife and two-year-old daughter. He thought he would eventually come across an employer that would give him a visa. He was wrong.

Khalid, and many other workers in the same situation, were not lucky. Just a few months prior the fake company was blacklisted after the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor found it in serious violation of Kuwaiti law. The company was found to be a fake and consequently his residency, and some 108 other workers also recruited by the company, will not have their residencies transferred. Some of the workers have already been arrested but others, just like him, still manage to evade immigration authorities.


People like Khalid find themselves in a unique situation after a parliamentary committee approved an amnesty for workers whose company licenses were revoked because of bogus company recruitment.

The three months amnesty was given by the Kuwaiti government after some reviews were made by a parliamentary committee. The committee was headed by Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabae who was acting on the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior (MoI). "It's a great relief for me," said Khalid. "I am very happy with the amnesty. I have been praying for the amnesty for a long time. I was in this situation for the last six months and this is now my chance. I'll definitely take advantage of the amnesty and I thank the K
uwaiti government for this.

Now, I can sleep peacefully. Before, my life here was filled with uncertainties. I was afraid that one day police would catch me. I am the head of the family and I should show firmness but since I was in this situation I could not do anything. Most of the time I hid from the authorities," Khalid told Kuwait Times.

Khalid's situation is similar to many workers who were recruited and placed in the same circumstances after interacting with phony companies. "I will do my best to take advantage of the amnesty. This is rare opportunity and I hope to get my own sponsor immediately, before the expiry of the three month grace period," he added.

Yesterday, the announcement covered only those who were arrested. The Interior Ministry clarified the matter to include people who entered Kuwait via fake companies and were not in police custody.

The amnesty will not cover the cases of illegal workers who abandoned their sponsors or committed crimes while working for legitimate or legal sponsors. HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, from time to time (sometimes in one, two or three years), grants a general amnesty for illegal expatriates. Today's amnesty covers only a specific sector of expat workers and was given by the parliamentary committee. - Kuwait Times