KOCHI: Facing the prospect of deportation due to a new rule stating expatriate engineers need to obtain an NOC from the Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE), Indian engineers, including a large number from Kerala who have been working in the Gulf country for several decades, are in a panic mode.Express reached out to some of them, who said they were very disturbed, explaining it was not easy to leave a country where they spent their prime working age.
Under the new rule, KSE will grant the NOC only after verifying the accreditation of the colleges from where the professionals had graduated, meaning many of them may not be able to renew their visas. This is because KSE follows the accreditation list of the National Bureau of Accreditation (NBA) and not the All Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE).
"We are going through one of the toughest periods (of our lives)," says Arun Davidson of GC - Kuwait Engineers Forum (Alumni Association).
Under the new rule, KSE will grant the NOC only after verifying the accreditation of the colleges from where the professionals had graduated, meaning many of them may not be able to renew their visas. This is because KSE follows the accreditation list of the National Bureau of Accreditation (NBA) and not the All Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE).
Thodupuzha native Jyothidas Narayan, who is the president of Alumni Association, Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam said, "I have lived in this country (Kuwait) for more than 20 years; both my children were born here. I graduated from MA College, established in 1961 --- long before the NBA was formed and yet today I face the possibility of deportment. It is not easy to be uprooted from a country where you have worked for decades."
Jithin Jose, a mechanical engineer, who has been living in Kuwait since 2009, said his residency stamping process is stuck due to the new rule.
"At the moment, I am on a new entry visa to Kuwait valid up to May 10, 2018. I have already submitted the documents to KSE and if they don't accept it, I may have to leave the country," he explained.
Arjun Jayakumar, civil engineer narrated his experience. "I came to Kuwait on March 15, 2018 . I graduated from a famous deemed university in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. My application got rejected from KSE saying they don't acknowledge degrees from deemed universities as it is not in the NBA accredited list. I am stuck here and don't know what to do next."
Davidson lists out some of the major concerns for the expatriate engineers. Under the new rule, all fresh recruitment will be on hold; engineers with expired residencies are put on temporary residence with a validity of 1-3 months, during which they will not be able to travel, renew the driving license or dependent visa. More alarmingly, the designation of engineers are downgraded to technician, supervisor, etc, he said.
About 13,000 to 18,000 expat Indian engineers are working in Kuwait and it is reckoned that a large number of them are from Kerala.