Kuwaiti arrested for lending his passport to Bidoon

Cairo: A Kuwaiti man has been arrested for having lent his passport to a stateless Bidoon allegedly to help him obtain political asylum, a Kuwaiti newspaper has reported.

Police at Kuwaiti International Airport arrested the Bidoon for his attempt to leave for Britain using the other man’s passport, added Al Anba, citing a security source.

In investigations, the Bidoon admitted that due to a physical resemblance between them, he borrowed the passport from its Kuwaiti holder to use it for travel to Britain in return for a sum of money, the source added.

The Bidoon man claimed they had arranged to send back the passport to its rightful owner via express mail later.

Both suspects will face several charges including forgery of official documents and an illegal attempt to leave the country, the source said.

The Bidoon are estimated at around 85,000 people in Kuwait and have been at the centre of a decades-old identity problem.