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Expatriates in Kuwait

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Expatriates in Kuwait
Total population
2.96 million (2022)
69% of Kuwait population
Regions with significant populations
Kuwait City and suburbs
Languages
English (lingua franca) • Arabic • Hindi • Malayalam • Urdu • Pashto • Tagalog • Persian • Others
Religion
Islam • Christianity • Hinduism • Others
Related ethnic groups
Expatriates in the United Arab Emirates

There are a large number of expatriates in Kuwait, with most residing in the capital of Kuwait City. Expatriates are primarily attracted by the employment opportunities in Kuwait. Kuwaiti nationals account for 31% of Kuwait's total population.

Arab populations

GCC populations

Saudis

540,773 Saudi Arabian nationals live in Kuwait.[1] Both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are neighbours and part of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which means that the citizens of each GCC member can live and work in any of the six countries without a visa.

Levant populations

Syrians

Main article: Syrians in Kuwait

There are around 161,000 Syrian expats in Kuwait. Syrians were among the first educated work force in Kuwait, the first Syrian expats immigrated to Kuwait in the 1960s.

Lebanese

106,000 Lebanese Nationals live in Kuwait, mainly Kuwait City.

Palestinians

There are around 70,000 Palestinian expats in Kuwait.[2]

North Africa populations

Egyptians

Egyptians are the second largest expat community in Kuwait, numbering more than 666,000 workers (December 2020).

Non-Arab Middle Eastern Populations

Iranians

See also: 'Ajam of Kuwait

In 2012, there were 45,000 Iranian expats according to the population census.[3] Iranians are heavily concentrated in the Bneid al-Gar suburb of Kuwait City. Most Iranians are employed in the private sector.[4] In 2011, there were 42,795 Iranians in Kuwait; 699 were employed in the public sector, 24,684 in the private sector and 16,577 were on dependent visas.[4]

There are Iranian schools in Kuwait, all privately funded and located in the suburbs of Kuwait City,[5] for example the Iranian School of Kuwait.

South Caucasian populations

Armenians

Main article: Armenians in Kuwait
See also: Armenians in the Middle East

The Armenian population reached its peak of 12,000.[6] But after the Iraqi invasions, the numbers of the Armenians resident in Kuwait greatly diminished to just 500[6] as they left the country.

Turks

Main article: Turks in Kuwait

There are 4,000 Turkish expats in Kuwait.[7] Most Turks work as barbers, engineers, businessmen and doctors.

South Asian populations

Indians

Main article: Indians in Kuwait

The Indian community in Kuwait includes Indian expats (mostly hailing from the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu), as well as Kuwaiti citizens of Indian origin. According to the Indian ministry of external affairs, there are around 1,020,000 Indians as on 31 December 2020,[8] constituting the largest expatriate community in Kuwait.[9]

There are 17 Indian schools in Kuwait affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). There were 164 Indian community Associations earlier registered with the Indian Embassy of Kuwait. Following introduction of a re-registration requirement, 106 of these Indian community Associations have once again registered with the Embassy and the number of registered Associations is growing at a steady pace.

Pakistanis

Main article: Pakistanis in Kuwait

The population of Pakistanis in Kuwait is around 100,000 (December 2020). The former Pakistani chargé d'affaires in Kuwait has given a higher estimate of 150,000 in 2009.[10] There are many Pakistani schools in Kuwait.

Sri Lankans

There are 99,858 Sri Lankans living and working in Kuwait in 2016.[11]

Southeast Asian populations

Filipinos

Main article: Filipinos in Kuwait

There are roughly 241,000 (as of December 2020) Filipinos in Kuwait. Most are migrant workers,[12] and approximately 60% of Filipinos in Kuwait are employed as domestic workers.

In 2011, Kuwait was the sixth-largest destination of Overseas Filipino Workers, with 65,000 hired or rehired in the nation in 2011, and accordingly Kuwait has been an important source of remittances back to the Philippines, with over $105 million USD being remitted in 2009.[13][14] Nine Filipino banks have correspondent accounts with banks in Kuwait to allow for remittance transfers.[15]

There is a Filipino Worker's Resource Center (FWRC) located in Jabriya, and it provides refuge for Filipino workers in Kuwait who have "[experienced] various forms of maltreatment from their employers such as fatigue, non-payment of salaries,"[16] as well as "lack of food [and] physical, verbal and sexual abuse".[17] Through assistance from the FWRC, the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration, hundreds of Filipinos in Kuwait have been repatriated to the Philippines due to these issues.[17][18]

Kuwait had the largest number of voters registered under the Overseas Absentee Voting Act eligible to vote in the 2013 Philippine general election.[19]

Indonesians

28,954 Indonesians reside in Kuwait as of 2020.[20]

East Asian populations

South and North Koreans

Further information: Koreans in the Arab world

Koreans in Kuwait first arrived in 1975 as employees of South Korean construction companies, although the two countries did not establish formal relations until June 1979.[21][22] By this time, Kuwait had already become the second-most popular Middle Eastern destination for Korean workers behind Saudi Arabia; by that time, 13,813 Korean workers had already come to Kuwait. However, Kuwait would soon lose the second-place position, being surpassed by Libya in 1981 and Iraq in 1982.[23][24] Koreans in Kuwait generally did not receive a welcome from or assimilate to the local society; in common with Indians, Filipinos, and Pakistanis, they were described as being at the bottom of the social structure, "ridiculed and stripped of their rights".[25] Nor did they spend much of their money locally; as meals and housing were provided for them in their work camps, it was estimated that they remitted 80% of their earnings back to South Korea.[26] In spite of these difficulties, between 1975 and 1985, 63,898 South Korean workers came to Kuwait, and as late as 1990, roughly 10,000 were estimated to remain.[23] Kuwait's only school for Korean nationals, the Kuwait Hangul School, was established in 1991.[27] Most South Koreans returned home in the following decade, and as of 2011, only 1,000 South Korean nationals resided in the country. There were no known former South Korean nationals with Kuwaiti nationality; six were international students, and the remainder had other kinds of visas.[28]

There was formerly a small contingent of South Korean soldiers in Kuwait, who numbered 170.[21] South Korean civilian employees from the United States Army's Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi-do have been deployed to bases in Kuwait, including Camp Arifjan, in support of the US Army.[29] In 2005, a group calling itself Kuwait Mujahideen claimed to have killed a Korean national as part of an attack on a US Army base in Umm Al-Hayman near Al Ahmadi.[30]

North Korean companies have established a greater presence in Kuwait recent years, and the government of South Korea estimated that there are roughly three or four thousand North Korean construction workers in the country as of 2004.[21][31] Air Koryo, the national airline of North Korea, began operating weekly flights between Pyongyang and Kuwait City in 2011.[32]

European populations

Britons

About 4,000 Britons live in Kuwait.[33] (Kuwait was a British Protectorate from 1899 to 1961.)

Danes

About 200 Danes are living in Kuwait.[34]

North American populations

Americans

About 30,000 United States nationals live in Kuwait.[35]

Canadians

About 7,000 Canadians live in Kuwait.[36]

Oceanian Populations

Australians

About 800 Australians are living In Kuwait.[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ "World Migration". International Organization for Migration. Archived from the original on 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  2. ^ O'Toole, Megan. "Palestine-Kuwait relations: 'Ice has started to melt'". Al Jazeera.
  3. ^ "Kuwait postpones Iran spy cell trial". 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Expat population in Kuwait drops by 19 percent in one year". 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
  5. ^ "Kuwait and Iran". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 1 August 1989.
  6. ^ a b "THE ARMENIANS OF KUWAIT: REBUILDING AFTER THE GULF WAR". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
  7. ^ Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı. "Kuveyt". Retrieved 2009-10-28.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Indian Community" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs. December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Indians in Kuwait | KuwaitStay". December 17, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-12-17.
  10. ^ Al-Qarari, Hussein (2009-03-29). "Pakistanis celebrate National Day in Kuwait". Kuwait Times. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  11. ^ Toumi, Habib (5 October 2016). "7 nationalities make up 90% of foreigners in Kuwait". Gulf News. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Kuwait grants amnesty to illegal aliens". Archived from the original on February 9, 2012.
  13. ^ "Overseas Filipino Workers At A Glance" (PDF). Senate of the Philippines. May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  14. ^ "Contribution Rose from OFWs to the Philippine Economy". Expat Crossing. May 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  15. ^ "Philippine Banks With Remittance Networks Abroad" (PDF). Scalabrini Migration Center. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  16. ^ "Seventy Distressed HSWs Repatriated To Philippines". Arab Times. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  17. ^ a b "131 Distressed Pinoys Fly Home To Philippines". Arab Times. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  18. ^ "DFA: 31 OFWs repatriated from Kuwait, 400 more to come home soon". GMA News. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Kuwait Filipinos Top OAV Globally". Arab Times. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  20. ^ "Data Agregat WNI yang Tercatat di Perwakilan RI" (PDF) (in Indonesian). General Elections Commission. 2019. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  21. ^ a b c Cheongwadae 2007, President Roh Moo-hyn's State Visit to the State of Kuwait
  22. ^ MacKellar 1982
  23. ^ a b Seok 1991, pp. 56–58
  24. ^ Bonacich & Light 1991, pp. 105–106
  25. ^ Mohammed 2003, p. 21
  26. ^ Mohammed 2003, p. 20
  27. ^ NIIED 2007, 쿠웨이트한글학교
  28. ^ MOFAT 2011, p. 292; Cheongwadae 2007, President Roh Moo-hyn's State Visit to the State of Kuwait also states there may be as many as 4,000 North Korean workers in the country, which if correct, would give Kuwait the second-largest Korean population in the region
  29. ^ Choi, Jin (10 January 2011), Casey Exchange employee among first Koreans to serve soldiers abroad, United States Army, retrieved 25 February 2012
  30. ^ Suh, Jung-min (16 January 2005), "Seoul denies Korean soldier was killed in Kuwait", JoongAng Ilbo, retrieved 25 February 2012
  31. ^ "About 3,000 North Korean Construction Workers in Kuwait: KOTRA", YON – Yonhap News Agency of Korea, 27 November 2004, retrieved 22 May 2009
  32. ^ O'Carroll, Chad (27 March 2014). "North Korea's Air Koryo resumes Pyongyang–Kuwait service". NKNews.org. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  33. ^ "Kuwait travel advice". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  34. ^ "Denmark woos Kuwait to invest in renewable energy, life science tech". kuwaittimes. June 23, 2021.
  35. ^ Etheridge, Jamie. "Americans in Kuwait: US Ambassador Discusses how Embassy Serves US Citizens in Kuwait". U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020.
  36. ^ Canada, Global Affairs (2020-07-06). "Canada-Kuwait relations". GAC. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  37. ^ "بالفيديو السفيرة ميليسا كيلي 13 مليار دولار أسترالي إجمالي حجم الاستثمارات الكويتية في أستراليا". alanba.com.kw.

Works cited

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