Kuwait has deported 648 illegal expats in the first 13 days of the current month, according to security authorities pursuing a relentless crackdown on unlawful residents in the country. The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry’s General Department of Residency Affairs added that 509 other violators of the country’s residency and labor laws have been rounded up during the same period. In the first half of January, security agencies conducted 28 campaigns across all governorates of Kuwait, targeting violators of residency and labor laws, the department said. The ministry has repeatedly vowed to show no leniency in enforcing the law and arresting violators of residency regulations, stressing that both the illegal worker and the employer will be held accountable. Kuwait, a country with an overall population of 4.9 million, most of whom are foreign nationals, is seeking to address its demographic imbalance and regulate the labor market. Authorities have recently launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal foreign residents who failed to take advantage of a grace period to rectify their status. Thousands have been apprehended. A new residency law, which came into effect earlier this month, offers potential reconciliation and the payment of fines by violators. However, this law does not apply to […]