Kuwait panel to start probing fake citizenship issue next wk
‘Names of those being prosecuted will not be revealed’
KUWAIT CITY, May 10: The Interior and Defense Committee in the Parliament will start investigating the fake citizenship issue next week.
A report published on gulfnews.com Wednesday said the Parliament instructed the committee to look into the alleged forgery of documents to acquire citizenship, affirming the names of those being prosecuted will not be revealed.
Earlier, Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim noticed an ‘unnatural’ increase in the population over the past five years, resulting in the formation of the committee in April. He disclosed he was aware of several cases and pledged to forward the names to the committee.
The country has intensified efforts to uncover cases of forgery and false information that enabled several foreigners, with the complicity of Kuwaitis, to obtain citizenship. So far, the country has succeeded in some cases in spite of the challenges in dealing with such a highly sensitive and complex issue. Several Kuwaitis were arrested after the authorities discovered they or their fathers had obtained citizenship fraudulently.
The law stipulates that the citizenship of a naturalized Kuwaiti will be cancelled if he provided false information or presented fake certificates during the application process. The Cabinet then orders cancellation of citizenship as per the request of the interior minister.
Citizenship
Officials often claim they know the countries of origin of people who claim they have no citizenship. They either keep these people stateless or send them back to their countries of origin.
Those who cheat their way to the Kuwaiti citizenship are deported to their countries of origin or to any country willing to accept them.
In 2015, efforts led to the unmasking of 105 people who acquired citizenship illegally.
In 2016, authorities discovered the case of two men who acquired citizenship fraudulently more than 51 years ago.
The two men, born to an Iraqi family, have been enjoying the benefits of Kuwaiti citizenship since 1965 when their father conspired with a Kuwaiti man who agreed, upon receiving money, to register them officially as his own sons.
In April last year, three Saudi brothers were arrested for obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship fraudulently. Investigations revealed the father, born in 1950, wanted his three sons to have Kuwaiti nationality.
In 1998, he contacted three Kuwaiti men and offered each of them money to add his sons to their citizenship records. The Kuwaitis agreed and each of them mentioned one son as his own in filing applications with relevant authorities. Since the applications were approved, the three sons were naturalized and each was provided with laissezpasser from the Embassy of Kuwait in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
They used the document to obtain Kuwaiti passports and identification cards, stating they are Kuwaiti citizens born to Kuwaiti fathers.
Two of the brothers joined the Kuwaiti Army whereas the third became a policeman in the Interior Ministry.
After the investigation, the Public Prosecution issued warrants to arrest the three brothers who were referred to the Citizenship and Passports Affairs General Department in the ministry.
During interrogation, the brothers admitted to obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship fraudulently through three Kuwaitis — one of whom was arrested and confessed that he received KD 10,000 from a Saudi man in exchange for registering the Saudi son as his own.
The second Kuwaiti had reportedly left the country a long time ago, prompting authorities to take action in order to arrest him upon his return; while the third died in 2010 in Britain where he was undergoing treatment for leukemia.