The move by the ministry is part of a larger Kuwaitisation policy that aims to replace expat employees at government posts with Kuwaiti nationals.

The decision will affect only those who work in administrative positions at the municipal affairs ministry, according to Shehata, who added that the number of Egyptian workers at the ministry does not exceed 1,000, and that the total number of Egyptians working in Kuwait’s government sector is around 31,000.

Shehata also stressed that not all Egyptians at the municipal affairs ministry will be negatively affected by the new policy, which only involves administrative positions.

Shehata released the statement in response to news reports claiming that over 1.8 million Egyptians working in Kuwait would be deported as the Kuwaiti government expands its Kuwaitisation policy.

Shehata dismissed the claims of mass deportation, and stressed that the decision will only affect some workers at the Ministry of State for Municipal Affairs.

He added that his ministry will protect Egyptian workers who lose their jobs and ensure their legal rights are preserved.

The Egyptian manpower ministry also asserted that the number of Egyptians working in Kuwait is 456,515.

The Kuwaitisation policy, which has been adopted in a number of ministries, has resulted in increasing the number of Kuwaiti employees from 76.6 percent to 78.3 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to Kuwaiti Arab Times English daily.

The number of Kuwaitis working in the private sector increased from 4.3 percent to 4.7 percent in 2021. This is mainly due to the departure of 146,949 expatriates from Kuwait last year.

The Kuwaiti newspaper said in February, quoting the quarterly report of the Kuwait's Central Administration of Statistics, that number of expats in Kuwait’s labour market decreased from 81.5 percent in 2020 to 78.9 percent by 2021, and the number of Egyptian expats decreased by 9.8 percent.