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    Coronavirus: Kuwaitis call on govt to crack down on visa merchants

    News DeskBy Updated:No Comments2 Mins Read

    Kuwaiti social media users and politicians have called on the government to crack down on illegal visa merchants amid a lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus across the country.

    Visa merchants can make thousands of dollars by providing a visa to just one immigrant, but the trade is illegal because only people with jobs are meant to receive visas and the influx of job seekers creates an underclass of unemployed immigrants who live in the shadows of the formal economy.

    Upon arrival, immigrants who buy visas illegally are obliged to pay their sponsor a monthly or yearly fee to continue to sponsor them. They often struggle to find marginal employment and are unable to pay their sponsor’s fees, leading to them being prohibited from leaving the country until a penalty is paid.

    The government announced on March 30 that it would send home any expatriates who had violated their visas and wanted to be repatriated, without requiring them to pay administration fees or air fares. So far, 600 migrants, including 253 Filipino nationals, have been repatriated under the scheme, according to state news agency KUNA.

    Social media users rallied around a campaign on Twitter using the Arabic hashtag “punish visa merchants” to urge the government to take action.

    “What we are witnessing today is a result of accumulation of residency dealers who have continued for more than two decades without accountability,” the spokesperson for the Kuwait Liberal Movement Abdulaziz al-Ahmed said on Twitter.

    “After the residency merchant abandons his responsibility, the worker tries to find illegal work in search of a living, resulting in the miserable situation that exists in some areas,” he added.

    Kuwait has confirmed 743 cases of coronavirus infection as of Tuesday. Infections have been concentrated in low-income residential camps, where migrant workers live in densely packed living quarters.

    “My fellow citizens, anyone who knows a residency merchant should report him even if he is a family member. The money they earn from human trafficking is prohibited, and by covering up for them you are participating with them in the oppression of people and the destruction of Kuwait,” one Twitter user wrote.

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