Kuwait mulls recovering state funds from fake citizens

Cairo: Kuwait is considering legal measures to reclaim public funds received by individuals who were recently stripped of their Kuwaiti citizenship due to forgery and fraud.

According to Kuwaiti daily Al Jarida, the Ministry of Social Affairs has requested a legal opinion from the state’s Legislation Department on whether it can initiate procedures to recover aid money previously disbursed to those whose citizenships were revoked.

“If approved, the ministry will immediately move to take legal action and begin the recovery process,” ministry sources told the newspaper.

“These are public funds with sanctity, unlawfully spent on individuals who obtained them through devious means,” they added.

Kuwait, a nation of around 4.9 million — most of whom are expatriates—has recently intensified efforts to protect its national identity by cracking down on citizenship fraud and dual nationality, which is prohibited under Kuwaiti law.

Since March last year, thousands have had their citizenships revoked for forgery or holding a second nationality.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Civil Service Commission has allowed female employees whose citizenships were revoked under Article 8—typically foreign wives of Kuwaiti men — to retain employment benefits. These include salaries, bonuses, leave entitlements, scholarships, and reduced working hours.