Dubai: Kuwait is studying a proposal to ban all types of visas given to expatriates from 10 countries, mostly African, because they do not have embassies in Kuwait, local media reported.
Kuwait’s Interior Ministry is currently considering banning all types of visas to citizens of 10 countries, including seven African states: Madagascar, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Benin, Mali and Congo.
The three other non-African countries have not been identified. According to Arabic daily Al Qabas, these countries do not have embassies in Kuwait although there are thousands of their citizens working in Kuwait, making the deportation of violators and those involved in crimes difficult.
The newspaper said the deportation of convicted expatriate residents from the 10 countries is a very complex and time-consuming process, posing a threat to the country’s security.
Another reason is that there are no direct flights between Kuwait and these countries.
Local media indicated that some violators from these countries deliberately conceal or destroy their passports, making it difficult for security services because there are no embassies in Kuwait where they can get travel documents issued for the deported people to be able to leave the country.
Many convicted people from the 10 countries have been in jail for long time because they destroyed their documents. Kuwait resorted to the embassies of their countries in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to get their official documents issued in order to deport them.
