Kuwait’s ban on recruiting Bangladeshi has no impact on overall work visas as it is applicable only for house helps.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam revealed the information on Tuesday while talking with a Bangladeshi media by phone from Kuwait.
Shahriar Alamo is now in Kuwait on an official visit and met his counterpart on Monday.
He is scheduled to meet the Kuwaiti labour minister later on Tuesday.
The state minister added that the ban is applicable only to Khadem Visa 20 that allows Kuwaiti nationals to employ foreigners as domestic workers.
According to the junior minister, nearly 300,000 Bangladeshis are in Kuwait on different work visas and 80,000 people went there in 2016.
Foreigners make up two thirds of Kuwait’s total population of 4.5 million with Indians being the largest expatriate community, reports bdnews24.com.
Middle Eastern media reported on Monday that Kuwait revived a ban on recruiting Bangladeshis.
The Gulf News said Kuwait started hiring Bangladeshi workers in the mid-1970s.
However, in 2007, Kuwait stopped recruiting Bangladeshis over employment irregularities and involvement in illegal activities, according to the Gulf News report.
In 2014, the ban was removed, but two years later, in 2016, Kuwait banned recruiting male house helps following reports on irregularities.
It then slapped a stringent condition that a Kuwaiti citizen can bring in only one male domestic worker.