Kuwaiti authorities are set to deport 10 expatriates involved in a recent mass brawl at a shopping centre in the country, which has stepped up a clampdown on illegal foreigners and violators of its laws.
Dozens of young people were recently seen in a video wielding chairs and tables in a pitched brawl purportedly at a shopping centre in the area of Al Qurain in Mubarak Al Kabir governorate, south of Kuwait City.
Those involved in the brawl were Egyptian expatriates, according to Kuwaiti media reports.
“The video was vetted and the participants in the brawl were identified,” Al Qabas newspaper quoted a security source as saying.
Preliminary investigations showed that 10 Egyptian expatriates were involved. “There is an intention to deport them from the country,” the source said.
“Instructions to security men clearly provide for taking all legal deterrent measures against anyone who does not abide by the country’s laws and stirs chaos,” added the source.
Kuwait has recently toughened measures against illegal foreign residents and warned that any expatriate covering up an unlawful resident will be deported too.
The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has asked the Education Ministry to allocate two unused schools to serve as makeshift centres for accommodating the increasing numbers of illegal expatriates until their deportation, Al Rai newspaper reported.
Illegal foreign residents are estimated at 150,000 in Kuwait.
The Interior Ministry is keen to track down illegals by mounting round-the-clock security campaigns, the paper quoted security sources as saying.
Kuwaiti individuals or companies employing illegals will face charges of unlawfully sheltering and covering up illegals, added the sources.
“Appropriate legal measures will be taken against them,” they added without elaborating.
Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s overall population of 4.6 million.
