Kuwait reinstates ban on Bangladeshi workers

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

Kuwait's Interior Minister Shaikh Khalid Al Jarrah has ordered the ban and asked the interior ministry to apply it, reports Gulf News today quoting Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda.

The decision 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 daily reports citing a security source.

The abuses were mainly related to the employment of domestic helpers despite the existence of strict regulations, security agencies said in the reports that triggered the ban.

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

However, Kuwait stopped recruiting Bangladeshi workers in 2007 after detecting irregularities in their recruitment and their involvement in illegal activities, the reports said.

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

But in May 2016, Kuwait imposed a ban on male domestic helpers following security reports that there were irregularities.