Kuwait will deport some of the 500 Bangladeshis who were involved in damaging vehicles and attacking the police in the gulf kingdom, an official said Wednesday.
As many as 300 out of the 800 Bangladeshis arrested on charge of creating "trouble" in Kuwait streets have been released for their "innocence", according to the foreign ministry.
The Kuwaiti authorities will examine the video footages and photographs of the agitating workers and find out the persons responsible for violence and attack, the ministry said in a statement.
The Kuwait government has also decided to increase the minimum wage of foreign workers to 40 Kuwaiti Dinars ($151 or Tk 10,300), it said.
Bangladesh Embassy officials in Kuwait had met with Sheikh Jaber Dayij Al Sabah, director general of the consular department of Kuwait's foreign ministry, to resolve the crisis in Kuwait City.
Sheikh Jaber at the meeting made it clear that the wrongdoers must be going back to their respective countries.
"Around 800 Bangladeshis have been arrested on charges of causing violence. The Kuwaiti government is thinking of deporting those Bangladeshis responsible for the violence and attack," acting foreign secretary MAK Mahmood told bdnews24.com.
"Out of the arrested people, 300 innocent Bangladeshis have already been released by the Kuwait government," the foreign ministry said in the statement.
"It has been decided at the meeting that those who instigated the violence or took part in the violence will be deported to their countries," the statement said on the outcome of the meeting with Sheikh Jaber.
The acting foreign secretary said the Kuwaiti police and the Bangladesh embassy officials had been injured during the four-day strike in Kuwait City.
The Kuwaiti police took video footage of the demonstration to trace the "troublemakers", he said.
On pay hike, the statement said the Kuwaiti government would take action against the companies who would fail to pay the minimum wage Kuwaiti Dinars 40.
"Around 16,000 Bangladeshi workers have already joined their workplaces," the statement said.
"We urge those Bangladeshis, who have not joined yet, to join their companies," the statement said.
Workers from Bangladesh and other South Asian countries in Kuwait had staged demonstrations over the last four days demanding pay hikes and better working conditions.
Employers in Kuwait in some cases had paid only Kuwaiti Dinar 8 ($30 or Tk 2,000) per month.
The Kuwaiti government assured the agitating workers to increase the pay in two weeks, but the defiant workers went on the rampage in the street saying they could be cheated by the employer companies.
Subject: Kuwait to deport 'rogue' Bangladeshi workers ........... 
Wed Jul 30, 2008 5:47 pm
