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Kuwait revokes citizenship of 489 individuals amid ongoing crackdown on dual nationality

The GCC nation has revoked hundreds of individuals' citizenship in the past several months

Published: Thu 31 Oct 2024, 4:06 PM

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Kuwait has revoked the citizenship of 489 individuals, pending referral to the cabinet, according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior.

However, the Interior Ministry did not give the reasons for the action and did not provide details. The decision becomes effective only after it is endorsed by the council of ministers.

The Supreme Committee for Investigating Kuwaiti Citizenship met on Thursday (October 31), chaired by Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah, the First Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of Interior.

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Kuwait has revoked hundreds of individuals' citizenship in the past several months. The Higher Commission for Kuwaiti Nationality also stripped 198 Kuwaitis of citizenship on October 17.

On September 12, the Gulf country also announced the revocation of citizenship of 90 people for law violations, one day after revoking citizenship for 12 others, including five women.

Kuwait's Central Agency for Remedying Illegal Residents' Status (CARIRS) has revoked the citizenship of more than 10,000 people with dual nationality since 2011, the KUNA news agency reported.

According to the agency, the step results from a full decade of Kuwaiti efforts to address the dual nationality file. It is the culmination of a campaign that began last year to confront those who obtain Kuwaiti citizenship illegally, officials said.

Kuwait does not recognise dual nationality, and children with dual nationality have two years after the age of 18 to decide whether to retain Kuwaiti or keep their other nationality.

In recent years, the country has intensified efforts to amend the status of those residing illegally.

Director of the Department of Situation Amendment at CARIRS Brigadier Mohammad Al Wuhaib stated to KUNA that 6,054 residents' status was changed to Saudi nationality, 1,188 to Iraqi nationality, 868 Syrian, 131 Iranian, 53 Jordanian, and 1,962 others to different nationalities. He added that these statistics include individuals with parents or relatives with documents from different countries.

Al Wuhaib called on people wishing to improve their situation to follow up with CARIRS at their headquarters in the Sharq area.

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