There is nothing wrong with the government working to improve and enhance rules and regulations in the country. This is the usual way. Governments are there to make changes and provide guidance for civilized living. But what I cannot understand is when ministries suddenly wake up and set rules that target expats. According to their way of thinking, expats are always the problem.

If we think of solving the traffic problem, we hit on expats. If there is a lack of beds or medicines in our hospitals, or a shortage of doctors or nurses, the first thing that comes to our mind is to reduce the numbers of expats in Kuwait. If we haven’t paid our electricity bills, the first thing the Ministry of Electricity and Water will think of is punishing expats who have not paid their bills. If the Ministry of Commerce and Industry discovers fraud, the first thing that comes out of it is that expats are the wrongdoers. If some vendors have no license and are selling DVDs on the streets or in front of the coops in Salmiya, expats are the first to be blamed.

Now a new plan the government is studying is for a committee including the ministries of health, social affairs, the traffic department and the ministry of commerce to assess the traffic violations and fines and offer some new solutions to help reduce accidents in Kuwait.

I thought that for a change we will have strict rules for wrongdoers like in any other country, be it for crossing traffic lights, selling expired food, constructing buildings without licenses, speeding on the streets like hell, etc. Unfortunately, the new project targets expats alone. They want to study rule-breaking amongst expats as if we Kuwaitis do not break rules at all. As if these expensive cars that cross red lights belong to Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi sweepers, Jordanians, Egyptians, South Africans, French etc, etc – most of whose salaries cannot buy the tyre of a Carrera.

Rules should apply – equally – to all. Especially since we are a Muslim country and Islam recognizes no hierarchy based on nationality. There should be no ‘one rule for slaves and another rule for masters’. We are all equal in front of the law. Even when we perform hajj we all stand together on the same mountain, wearing the same piece of cloth and at the same time. It won’t boost Kuwait to target expats only. We should target both – expats and citizens – and whoever breaks the rules should face the consequences. There is no Kuwaiti or non-Kuwaiti when breaking the rules and killing people. When you break the rules there is no nationality involved. Cheating, fraud and crime do not have a color, nationality or religion.

In all honesty, when we set out strict deportation regulations for administrative crimes against expats, we are encouraging our own kids to break the rules and give them a feeling of superiority. This will result in a lot of discrimination and prejudice. If we in Kuwait do not need expats, we should be candid about it. We should face people with proper rules and regulations and should not use excuses like bill-payments to send them home. We do not need to wait for them to delay the payment of an electricity bill or rent to get rid of them. I do not underestimate crossing the red light. I would like to clarify something: sometimes you are forced to cross the red light because the car behind you is driving like a Scud missile. There are people who recklessly cross the red light and this is different. There are others who sometimes do it by mistake or are forced to do it.

I am still optimistic that this is only a study. I know that the Minister of Interior and his colleagues are more sophisticated and have a human touch and wisdom to apply such a ruthless apartheid policy which will tarnish the reputation of Kuwait.

By Badrya Darwish
badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net
http://twitter.com/badryad