The General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions Vice-President, Magdy El-Badawy, stated that Kuwait’s decision to cease the service of expatriates is a legal right of the Kuwaiti state and that the situation is not unexpected since there were signs that this decision was going to be made.
On the Sada Al-Balad channel, Magdy El-Badawy noted that there are now 1. 8 million Egyptian employees in Kuwait, and discussions are currently taking place on how to protect their rights before they return to Egypt.
The deputy head of the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions also noted that the Ministry of Manpower is currently restricting the amount of Egyptian labour that can be dispensed with, noting that the State of Kuwait occasionally does so with regard to foreign workers whose contracts have expired.
Majdi Al-Badawi added that the first phase of the process to end the service of expatriates will be applied to workers in the municipalities, and then two other phases will follow, explaining that 33% of the volume of expatriate workers in Kuwait will be dispensed with every six months for all nationalities.
Ending the employment of expatriates in Kuwait, according to the vice-president of the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions, would reduce the amount of money that Egyptians send home.
The Minister of Municipalities in Kuwait, Rana Al-Faris, announced a plan to settle employment within the ministry and do away with expatriates from outside the nation. The announcement caused a stir in the Egyptian media.
The repatriation of 771,000 Egyptians to their country of origin may be in jeopardy as a result of this plan’s three phases, according to the Egyptian media.
The second phase begins in early February of next year with the termination of work for 33% of the expatriates, and the third phase will start with a warning period for the remaining employees as of July 1, 2023, according to the Kuwaiti minister. The first phase will start at the beginning of next September with the termination of contracts for 33% of non-Kuwaitis with a warning period.
Al-Fares acknowledged that there are a few exceptions, such as non-Kuwaiti mothers working for Kuwaiti companies or children from members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
What will happen to the Egyptians in Kuwait now that a decision may prompt thousands of them to return to their country of origin?
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