Kuwait revokes 4,280 nationalities in 3 weeks

The Kuwaiti government continues to revoke the nationalities of thousands of citizens due to forgery and violations of the nationality law, with more than 4,200 nationalities revoked in just three weeks.

The latest revocation decisions were made on Thursday to revoke the nationalities of 1,647 people, the second largest number of people whose nationalities were revoked at once, after revoking 1,535 on 14 November.

It was also announced that the citizenship of 930 other people had been revoked on 7 November and 168 on 2 November, bringing the total number of people whose citizenship had been withdrawn in just three weeks to 4,280.

Local newspaper Al-Jarida quoted sources stating that the cases included divorcees and widows of citizens who had obtained citizenship according to Article 8, in addition to people who had provided false and misleading information and obtained citizenship using it or affiliated with people to whom they were not related.

The sources claimed that the committee reviewed the reports submitted by the Nationality Investigations Department on the files of people with dual citizenship. Others were found to have obtained it by paying citizens who had added them to their files.

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The newspaper pointed out that the committee recommended referring such cases to the judiciary and arresting all parties involved.

The decisions to revoke citizenship are made by the High Committee for Kuwaiti Nationality, headed by the Minister of Defence and Interior Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah, which is responsible for examining and reviewing naturalisation files to uncover forgers and dual nationals. The committee then presents its decisions to the Council of Ministers for approval.

The revocation of citizenship results in the cancellation of many benefits people had received as Kuwaiti citizens, including the withdrawal of government homes or farms allocated to them, through a joint committee that examines each case individually.

The Kuwaiti government says that withdrawing citizenship from forgers and dual nationals aims to “preserve national identity, achieve stability and protect the national fabric,” as well as remove the records of those who acquired citizenship illegally.

Kuwait amended the nationality law last September as part of its campaign against forged nationalities and potential forgery cases and cancelled some cases in which citizenship was acquired by dependency.