Kuwait says ‘no’ to Sudan-Syrians
10 apply to change status
KUWAIT CITY, May 23: Ministry of Interior has issued a decision to reject any request presented by Syrian nationals for amendment of their nationality in their official records following their acquisition of Sudanese passports, reports Al-Anba daily quoting security sources.
They revealed that ten Syrian expatriates had so far applied for change in citizenship status from Syrian to Sudanese.
The sources explained that Ministry of Interior took such a decision after being notified by Sudanese authorities that several Syrian nationals managed to acquire Sudanese passports by suspiciously dodging the law, a matter that poses a threat to the national security.
The authorities in Khartoum affirmed that they issued Sudanese passports to many Syrian nationals but they are temporary and will not be renewed following expiry, adding that they recently stopped issuing Sudanese citizenship certificates and passports to nonSudanese nationals.
Agencies
Based on this information, Ministry of Interior sent a circular to all its agencies, instructing not to amend the status of any Syrian expatriate who presents a Sudanese passport.
Due to their keenness to obtain passports of other countries in order to ease suspicions and facilitate their movements, many Syrian refugees have been applying for foreign citizenships.
As per an article in the Sudanese website Enab Baladi, Sudan has been the only Arab country that accepted Syrians without demanding visas or any other conditions or restrictions. However, reports began to emerge that Syrians who enter Sudan were able to obtain Sudanese business passports by paying $10,000. This issue caused conflicts between those who stress the need to assist Syrians and those who completely rejected such a citizenship deal.
There are more than 130,000 Syrians living in Sudan where they have been working without holding work permits. Syrian students are being charged the same fees as Sudanese students in public colleges.
According to a report published in Masr Al-Arabiya on September 2016, many Syrians tried sneaking into Egypt from Sudan by paying up to $800 to human traffickers, because Egypt has a larger economic market with greater job opportunities compared to Sudan. An unidentified Sudanese human trafficker revealed that he smuggled up to 30 Syrians to Egypt in a day through dangerous desert areas.
Moreover, many Syrians desire to join members of their families who traveled to Egypt before Egyptian authorities started imposing visas for Syrians from July 2013. Some others travel to Egypt with the aim of immigrating to Europe.