The Ministry of Interior said Criminal Security Sector personnel from the General Department of Criminal Investigation and the Residence Affairs Investigation Department worked with the Public Authority for Manpower to target the Shuwaikh Industrial Area in a focused inspection campaign. Teams examined 120 establishments during the operation, which the ministry framed as part of sustained efforts to address irregularities in the labor market. Authorities initiated legal and administrative measures against all those apprehended, with further inspection rounds scheduled across additional sites.
Ministry of Interior figures identified nine cases under Article 20 of the residency law, one of whom was listed as absconding, while 36 individuals fell under Article 18 violations and a separate case involved Article 22 for links to a nonexistent company. The breakdown emerged from the detailed audits conducted at the inspected premises in the industrial zone. Procedures against the group have already begun, according to the ministry statement issued following the August 6 action.
The operation reflects a wider pattern of coordinated campaigns that the Ministry of Interior has escalated in recent weeks to curb residency and employment infractions. In one such drive in the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area days earlier, the ministry announced the arrest of 1,253 individuals wanted for security reasons or similar labor and residency breaches. That larger effort also uncovered 129 bribery cases tied to residency permits and led to 110 referrals from an expatriate shelter to the deportation department.
Public Authority for Manpower teams have taken a prominent role in these joint inspections, providing regulatory oversight on workforce compliance at commercial sites. The authority’s involvement aligns with its mandate to monitor labor conditions and ensure adherence to established employment rules across the private sector. Field checks during the Shuwaikh campaign focused on verifying documentation and work permits for expatriate staff employed in the industrial facilities.
Kuwait’s expatriate population, which the Public Authority for Civil Information places at more than two-thirds of the total resident base, has remained a central focus of such regulatory actions in recent years. The Ministry of Interior has repeatedly signaled that inspection campaigns will persist to deter violations and uphold legal standards in the labor market. Additional operations are expected in other industrial and commercial zones in the coming period.
