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Kuwait dumps striking foreign workers
Kuwait has warned that it will deport foreigners who instigate gatherings and strikes and will arrest and prosecute the participants. "The ministry has noticed recently that some Arab and foreign communities resort to gatherings and strikes for various reasons, which are illegal actions and undermine security," the interior ministry said in a statement cited by the official KUNA new agency. "The ministry will take necessary measures to arrest and prosecute participants in such gatherings and will deport those proved to have instigated others," it warned. The statement comes after Kuwaiti authorities earlier this week deported about a dozen Bangladeshi cleaners who were charged with organizing a strike by hundreds of fellow workers to demand the payment of their salaries. The workers, hired by a local private company under contract with the education ministry, claimed they had not been paid for the past five months and their residence permits had expired a year ago. Foreigners living and working in Kuwait can be deported under a court ruling and under so-called administrative deportation which is controlled by senior interior ministry officials. Administrative deportation has been strongly criticized by human rights groups as illegal, because there is no right to appeal to its decisions. There are around 2.35 million foreigners in the oil-rich Persian Gulf state which has a native population of just over one million. Posted by: Fred 2008-05-07 |
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