Expats with communicable diseases to be deported KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health announced that it will deport expatriates who contract infectious diseases as part of a new policy to follow strict procedures under a law where the state is required to take precautionary measures against the spread of communicable diseases. According to Al-Qabas daily, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Minister of Health Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah said that a foreigner diagnosed with a communicable disease will be deported. He also said that efforts are ongoing to ensure that all expatriates receive necessary vaccines for prevention. The minister ordered that children under the age of 15 should be tested at medical testing centers before being issued visas to make sure that they received the necessary vaccinations. Speaking with the Kuwait Times yesterday, Dr Ahmad Al-Shatti, Director of Occupational Health Department at the Ministry of Health (MoH), noted that the initial report was unclear and inaccurate. “I think the report was inaccurate. My understanding about MoH policy is that, at first, when you have such kind of a communicable disease, you will not be allowed to enter Kuwait,” he said. “If you are not a threat to the people around you, for example, TB (since it can be treated), you will be given at least one year on humanitarian grounds, since you have a family here and your children are studying. They’ll be given time to finish school before being sent out of the country,” he added. “If in case the situation is quite serious, like hepatitis, they’ll be given six months and will be treated here before eventually being sent back. That is as per the regulations, agreed upon by the GCC countries and not Kuwait’s law alone,” he pointed out. But he also warned that some diseases require automatic deportation such as leprosy and HIV but even that requires a certain protocol to be followed. Some expatriates were alarmed at the automatic deportation. “They should clarify the news. It will be labeled as another anti-expatriate law again,” said a Kuwaiti businessman who has been following the news about expatriates in Kuwait. “They have enough issues from crackdowns to deporting expats with serious traffic violations. And now with this, it’s enough bad news for the expats,” he said. A European expatriate appealed to MoH to clarify the automatic deportation rule. “The problem here in Kuwait is that, we are not the only the carriers; sometimes, we are the victims. Many Kuwaitis and residents in Kuwait vacation in other countries where communicable diseases are rampant, and when they come home, they spread this disease. Instead of treating the expats, if we deport them, it’s inhuman. We are supposed to be helping eradicate the disease,” she said. A Palestinian expat opined Islam as a religion doesn’t teach believers to send away people with diseases. “Islam is very clear on that. We should be compassionate. People with diseases should be treated (medically) and they’ll be given fair treatment as anyone else. Since they’re found to be ill in this country, they should be treated here and sent home when they’re okay.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 07:25:15 +0000
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