Team Herald
PANJIM: Youth from Goa who are seeking jobs in Kuwait have appealed to the State government to reach out to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait via the central government regarding what they say is the additional immigration fee that is being imposed presently.
They stated that due to the pandemic since last year, they have been finding it difficult to find jobs and don’t have the money to pay such high fees and that the Indian government should speak to their counterparts in Kuwait on compassionate grounds.
They claimed that earlier, the immigration fee was around 15,000 to 20,000 rupees for those who had not cleared their SSC exams but who had passed their SSC exams were exempt from paying such fees altogether. Now apparently the fees for those who have not passed SSC have been increased to Rs 45,000 and a steep fee has also been regularised for those who have even passed the exam.
They regret that the average salary these youth get in Kuwait is 100 KD, which is far less than the Rs 45,000 fee they have to pay to go to Kuwait. They added that given the current economic slowdown, they are struggling to come up with these funds.
They appealed to the Chief Minister to take this up and help them, given that they have been unemployed for so long. They added that bearing other expenses during pandemic, they can’t afford such high immigration fee.
A group, Navelkarancho Ekvott also demanded that the government intervenes. Ekvottt President George Barreto and others added that these new immigration fees should be scrapped given the pandemic and how this will help the youth get jobs they seek in Kuwait.
