Kuwait imposes fresh ban on Bangladeshi workers

Kuwait has again imposed a ban on recruiting Bangladeshis to work in the northern Arabian Gulf state.

Issuing the order, Kuwait’s interior minister Shaikh Khalid Al Jarrah has asked the ministry to implement it, reports Gulf News on Monday quoting Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda.

The decision was reportedly taken due to irregularities and abuses by traffickers in work and residency permits for Bangladeshis, whose numbers have increased remarkably following the recent lifting of a ban on their recruitment, the newspaper report suggested.

The abuses were mainly related to the employment of domestic helpers despite the existence of strict regulations, security agencies were quoted in the report as saying.

Kuwait started hiring Bangladeshi workers in 1976 and until 2007, around 480,000 workers were recruited, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.

However, the Gulf state stopped recruiting Bangladeshi workers in 2007 after its authorities had detected irregularities in their recruitment process and involvement in illegal activities, the report said.

In 2014, Kuwait decided to lift the ban and allow Bangladeshis to work in the Gulf country.

However, in May 2016, Kuwait imposed a ban on male domestic helpers for alleged irregularities.