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AGCC summit to discuss five-year cap on expatriate employees in the Gulf

MUSCAT — A proposal by the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council labour ministers to impose a cap on expatriate workers is likely to be endorsed at the forthcoming 29th AGCC summit, according to official sources. It is being said that the ban would be imposed only on “unskilled workers”. Unskilled workers make up about 85 per cent of the around 13 million foreigners living in the six Gulf states which include Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

“The suggestion to limit the stay of foreigners in an AGCC country to five years has a 70 per cent chance of being approved by the forthcoming Muscat summit,” Gulf News reported yesterday quoting Majeed Al Alawi, Bahrain’s labour minister.

The reason for the cap is reportedly to stop the erosion of local culture and to reduce the soaring unemployment among nationals.