A Calgary man who has been living and working in Kuwait says he was suddenly blocked from entering the country for no reason, even though his wife and children are still there.
CTV is concealing his identity because he is concerned for his family’s safety. He said he was hired by Kuwait's United Precision Drilling and contracted out to the Kuwait Oil Company to track oil rig production, and has never had a problem or broken the law in any way.
After a family vacation to visit his children’s grandmother, he says his family was let back into the country, but he was detained to talk to Kuwaiti security officials.
“They started asking me all kinds of questions, where were you born, what are you doing here, who do you work for, they took all of my paperwork,” he said. “Eventually they said, we are sorry, we are not allowing you in the country. I said what’s the reason? They said it’s just like this, there is nothing we can tell you, you are just not allowed in the country.”
He said he called his employer to try and figure out what was wrong, but no one would help him.
“There is no way they cannot reach high in the country, they do have long hands, it’s just they didn’t want to do it for reasons I am not aware of,” he said.
He said he has tried every avenue he can think of to get answers, but has learned little from the government of Kuwait, and is now warning other people thinking of working for oil and gas-related companies in foreign countries.
“Where is my company? They hired me, I have a contract, I have a family there, they are supposed to step in at least and try to investigate what’s happening,” he said.
He also said the company violated the terms of his contract by cutting off his salary and refusing to fly his family home to Canada, something they are supposed to do even if he is laid off.
CTV contacted the Kuwaiti embassy in Ottawa and was told there isn’t much they can do, and the man could consider getting a lawyer in Kuwait. He said he may do that once his family is safely back in Canada.
