Kuwait slaps visa ban on domestic workers from 19 African countries

Albayan.ae, an Arabic language newspaper in UAE, while quoting a letter from the The General Directorate of Residency Affairs, states that the instructions were issued not to grant an entry visa for domestic workers to African countries that have no embassies inside the country unless the validity of the passport is not less than 3 years.

According to the newspaper, the five African countries include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Guinea – Bissau.

Earlier, the Kuwaiti government suspended 14 other African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Malawi, Chad, Sierra Leone, Niger, Tanzania, the Gambia, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Madagascar.

The circular also notes that temporary ban has been placed on domestic workers from Cameroon, the Congo, Burundi, Eritrea and Liberia.

The Arab nations have been a hub for Africans especially women serving as domestic workers and a soft target for recruitment agents.

A White Paper by the International Labour Organisation in 2018 states that despite successes in legislation for domestic workers in the Middle East, implementation and enforcement remain great challenges as credible allegations of abuse and fraudulent behaviour continue to plague the sector.