Kuwait City: Kuwait's Ministry of Interior has revealed that 1,700 stateless people, also known as Bidoon, paid 4 million Kuwaiti dinars (Dh47.9 million) in bribes to obtain passports, Al Qabas reported.
The investigation, initiated two weeks ago, looked into passports that were bought between 2014 and 2018.
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The timing of the investigation coincided with the annulment of all paperwork signed by Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, General Sheikh Mazen Al Jarrah, who was arrested two weeks ago on charges of accepting bribes in exchange for processing transactions related to citizenship and passports. The Ministry of Interior is reviewing all transactions between 2014 and 2018, as Al Jarrah was overseeing the citizenship and passports department.
The Ministry of Interior also revealed that some Bidoon were paying up to 3,000 Kuwaiti dinars for an Article 17 passport.
What is an article 17 passport?
An article 17 passport is a temporary passport that is issued to stateless people that is valid for a short period of time and is issued under certain circumstances. One must have a valid ID and no prior convictions in order to apply for a passport.
“People resort to buying a passport because it is almost impossible to receive one due to the harsh criteria that one should meet,” a source spoke to Gulf News on the condition of anonymity. “People receive convictions for subjective claims. You can be denied a passport simply for writing a tweet,” said the source.
The Article 17 department, which is part of the citizenship and passports department of the Ministry of Interior, is in charge of issuing passports to Bidoon. However, a passport is not issued without the approval of the Central Agency for Addressing Illegal Residents Status, which is a governmental agency that is in charge of processing everything for the Bidoon from IDs to drivers’ licenses.
“You have to go to the central agency to process anything. The problem with the central agency is that they classify people randomly. For example, they will determine one sibling of Iraqi origin while the other sibling is of Yemeni descent, even if they have the same parents,” explained the source. The source went on to say, “The corruption and the fact that you cannot file a claim allowed for bribery to occur on such a wide scale.”
An Article 17 passport is only valid for a year or maximum two.
“While it is hard to keep applying for a passport, it is even harder to receive a visa because in most cases you need to have a passport that is valid for more than 6 months,” said the source.
Stateless people
According to Minority Rights, there are around 100,000 people that are registered by the Kuwaiti government as Bidoon, who are unable to receive benefits that their Kuwaiti counterpart get. Although some Bidoon have access to private health care and an education at a private university, it is not a norm as many Bidoon live in poverty.
While some Bidoon work in governmental agencies, others do not have the right to a birth certificate.
“Obtaining a passport to travel for leisure can be seen as a luxury but in the case of the Bidoon it is limiting their rights to an education, health care and freedom of movement,” pointed out the source.
