KATHMANDU, May 4: At a time when Nepali migrant workers are passing through difficult times due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti government has asked Nepal to repatriate the illegal Nepali workers living in the country.
According to Durga Prasad Bhandari, the Nepali ambassador to Kuwait, the Kuwaiti government has said that it will help in the evacuation of the illegal Nepali workers living in Kuwait who have already been granted general amnesty.
"The Kuwaiti government has also offered to send them back to Nepal free of cost and by its own civil airlines," Bhandari told Republica Online over the phone.
According to Ambassador Bhandari, 60 Nepali workers have been infected by the novel coronavirus in Kuwait so far.
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Kuwait has been one of the prime destinations of Nepali workers in the Gulf region for the past several years. The country is currently employing approximately 80,000 to 85,000 Nepalis, 35.29 percent of which are domestic workers.
It is said that Kuwait’s migrant labor camps have also been severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Various critical problems, including limited access to food and other social services have been identified.
According to Nepali organizations based in Kuwait, about 143 workers have directly asked for food-assistance, and this figure is highly likely to increase as the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies in these migrant labor camps.
Nepali migrant workers in Kuwait are complaining about government apathy toward them at the time of this pandemic.
On February 29, 2020, Kuwait went into a lockdown which will last until May 29.
Kuwait’s migrant labor camps have also been severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to Hari Neupane, a representative of Shramik Sanjal, Kuwait Chapter, thousands of Nepali workers have directly asked them for food-assistance, and this figure is highly likely to increase as the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies in these migrant labor camps.
