KUWAIT: The government has given clear instructions to detain all iqama violators and deport them immediately, as is evident by the ongoing surprise campaigns the ministry of interior is conducting in densely populated areas. The foreign ministry, in coordination with the interior ministry, has contacted embassies in Kuwait and requested the appointment of a liaison officer at each embassy to obtain identification papers to facilitate the deportation process of residency violators, especially since some of them lost their documents or passports due to various reasons.
“The ministry of interior has asked embassies through the foreign ministry to speed up the issuance of travel documents of violators, as it will be strict in issuing fines against all violators who attempt to evade arrest or did not leave the country within the specified timeframe, as no new grace periods will be announced to leave without fines, as the government believes this method is not effective,” sources told Kuwait Times.
Sources also revealed the interior ministry has found expatriates without any documentation, and some are children of expatriate residency violators. But the embassies of their countries do not recognize them because their parents did not apply for their official registration, whether in Kuwaiti government records or with the embassies. They do not have valid documents that allow them to register their children, noting that the number of these violators is not small.
“This problem still persists between ministries and embassies and can be resolved by DNA tests to identify their parents, as many children were found with unidentified parents during campaigns in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Mahboula,” the sources revealed. They added the interior ministry will not accept some Kuwaitis’ objections on making them pay for the return tickets of fugitive or absconding workers, because they are the sponsors of these violators.
The sources reminded that from the outset, the sponsor undertakes to bear the cost of the return ticket for the worker if they leave for any reason, especially since the ministry of interior will face the problem of providing the airfare to deport the worker if they say they have no money to buy a ticket, while embassies will not bear the cost of deportation. The sources added the sponsor of an arrested runaway worker can deduct the price of the ticket to deport them before paying their dues in full.
