Kuwait offers amnesty, Indians can return home

HYDERABAD: With the Kuwait government on Tuesday announcing a general amnesty, thousands of Indian workers stuck in the Gulf nation because of illegally extended stay will be able to return to India without having to pay penalty. The amnesty will be in force from January 29 to Feb. 22, 2018.
“This comes as a great relief to workers,” said social welfare Shaheen Sayyed who had taken up the cause of the Indian workers in Kuwait.
A worker, Naresh Naidu, who was employed with Kharifi National and overstayed to demand that his salary dues be released by the company, is one among those keen to make use of the amnesty.
Kuwait ex-workers to leave without pay
Naidu, from West Godavari, told TOI on telephone from Kuwait that on Tuesday he went to the Indian embassy and gave his details so that he could return home soon.
The penalty for overstaying in Kuwait is 2 Kuwaiti dinar per day, ie, ₹424. Workers have been overstaying for several months without salaries, and thus they do not money to return.
The amnesty granted by the Kuwaiti government comes in the wake of Union minister of state for external affairs V K Singh’s recent visit. He took up the issue of thousands of Indian workers who had not been paid by Kharafi National Company. He also spoke to the Kuwaiti government minister to waive penalty for overstaying Indians who wanted to return. The amnesty, for overstaying workers of all countries, would mean that workers can go back to Kuwait legally to take up jobs again.
Singh has also promised to take care of airfare of ex-workers of Kharafi National. The embassy is working on getting them 250 Kuwaiti dinars that the company deposits in each worker’s name when they are being employed. That would mean a return of ₹53,000. However, their salary dues range from ₹3 lakh to ₹10 lakh. “How can we forgo such big amounts and leave?” questioned Matiullah, another worker from India.