Kuwait approves curbs on naturalisation

Cairo: The Kuwaiti government has approved amendments to a law regulating the granting of its citizenship to foreigners as the country has already stripped hundreds of its nationality due to different reasons.

According to the latest amendments to a 1959 royal decree, a foreigner’s obtaining of Kuwaiti nationality does not result in his wife becoming a Kuwaiti. Likewise, the marriage of a foreign woman to a Kuwaiti man does not result in her becoming a Kuwaiti national.

The amendments, moreover, permit the withdrawal of Kuwaiti citizenship from a holder, who obtained it by fraud or forgery, or if he/she is convicted by a final ruling over dishonouring or breach-of-trust crimes or against state security, or due to blasphemy, or defaming the Emir.

Other cases include disciplinary dismissal from a government job for reasons related to honour or trust, or dictates of the supreme interests of the state or its external security.

The latest changes have dropped from the law an earlier stipulation that required the elapse of 15 years before withdrawing Kuwaiti citizenship if the holder is convicted of a dishonouring crime or one linked to a breach of trust, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas reported, quoting a government source.

The measures aim at preserving the national identity, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai said.

Kuwait, a country of around 4.9 million people mostly foreigners, recently launched a clampdown on citizenship fraud.

The country has withdrawn its citizenship from hundreds of people since early March due to fraud or holding another nationality, according to media reports.

The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has set up a hotline to receive reports about holders of citizenship obtained through forgery.

The ministry’s General Directorate of Nationality and Travel Documents has urged members of the public with information on forged or dual nationals to report it via the hotline for investigations, promising the whistleblowers full secrecy.