Kuwait announced amnesty

Kuwait Upto Date • January 23, 2018 • 0 Comments

In a relief for thousands of Indian workers forced to illegally extend their stay in Kuwait due to non-payment of salaries, the Kuwaiti government on Tuesday announced that it won’t impose any penalty on them.

The amnesty has been granted from January 29 to February 22. “This comes as a great relief for the Indian workers,” said social worker Shaheen Sayyed who had taken up their cause.

A worker, Naresh Naidu, who was employed with Kharifi National and had extended his stay to demand his salary dues, is one among those keen to make use of the amnesty.

The penalty for overstaying in Kuwait is two Kuwaiti Dinars, i.e. Indian Rs 424, per day. The unpaid workers, who had overstayed by several months, could not afford to pay the fine.

The amnesty granted by the Kuwaiti government comes in the wake of Union minister of state for external affairs VK Singh’s recent visit to the country. Singh had taken up the issue of the workers who had not been paid by Kharafi National Company. He also spoke to a Kuwaiti minister to waive penalty for those who wanted to return to India.