Cairo: Kuwaiti authorities have been flooded with reports about citizens, who allegedly obtained Kuwaiti nationality through forgery or hold another nationality.
A state committee in charge of nationality verification has received as many as 7,125 reports about holders of forged citizenship or dual citizens via a designated hotline, Kuwaiti news portal Almajilis said. After scrutiny, some such reports were found to be “malicious”.
The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has set up a hotline to receive reports about holders of dual citizenship that is banned under Kuwaiti law, or those who obtained it through forgery.
The ministry has urged members of the public with related information to report it via the hotline for investigations, promising the whistleblowers full secrecy.
Authorities have already withdrawn citizenship from hundreds of people since early March due to fraud or holding another nationality.
Last week, the ad-hoc committee decided to revoke nationality of 1,647 citizens, raising to 4,601 the total number of such individuals in three weeks, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai. The latest cases are referred to the Council of Ministers for approval.
In recent weeks, Kuwaiti media reported about several uncovered cases of foreigners, who illegally obtained Kuwaiti citizenship. Some of the unlawful citizens were taken to court and received jailing rulings.
A Kuwaiti court recently sentenced three Gulf nationals to 10 years in prison each on charges of forging Kuwaiti citizenship and illegally pocketing KD500,000 ($1.6 million) in government salaries and perks.
The criminal court also ordered the defendants to return KD1 million to the state treasury, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas reported.
Kuwait, a country of around 4.9 million people mostly expatriates, has recently launched a clampdown on citizenship fraud and duality to protect national identity.
