KUWAIT CITY, Oct 2: The disappearance of the archive following the invasion and occupation of Kuwait by the Iraqis has helped hundreds of ‘illegal’ people to get the Kuwaiti citizenship, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily quoting an unidentified source from the Nationality and Travel Documents.

The source said hundreds of people applied for citizenship following the liberation of the country in February 1991. The archive was stolen by the Iraqi army in 1990 from the Nationality and Travel Documents building.
The source added the archive is the main reference for persons who apply for citizenship or naturalization and the disappearance of this archive has helped hundreds to obtain citizenship based on forged documents.

The source said it is surprising the Ministry of Interior has neglected this archive after it was restored from the Iraqis in 2000. This important archive containing more than 280,000 files pertaining to citizenship and containing information about parents and grandparents who have got citizenship until 1990 since the law was passed in 1959 is stored in a makeshift building in Sulaibiya.

The source explained these files are very important and contain real information about each person who has obtained the citizenship after the law was passed.

It includes documents dating back to 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and should have been re-arranged and stored in the basement of the General Administration for Nationality in Al-Dajij and not left to rot in stores.
Meanwhile, the Central System for Remedying the Status of Bedoun (CSRSB) is about to complete the scrutiny of files belonging to 30,000 Bedouns who fulfill the conditions for obtaining the Kuwaiti citizenship, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily quoting reliable sources.

The same sources said other applicants deserve to hold the residency only. They stressed the agency is keen on notifying the Bedoun community, numbering about 106,000, of the outcome of their citizenship request, indicating Bedouns who meet the conditions of citizenship have no security restrictions.
There is no proof they hold other nationalities and were included in the 1965 census, sources explained. Many of them hold government documents from the oil companies, and others are military personnel whose fathers were killed during Kuwait’s Liberation War or the Arab Wars, sources noted.

In the meantime, the agency is expected to submit a letter to the Cabinet, with the names of those fulfilling the conditions of citizenship for the final scrutiny, after which they will be granted Green Cards to enjoy the benefits of citizenship, until they are finally naturalized.   

Sources revealed that the system refused any kind of mediation with some lawmakers, considering its readiness to close the Bedoun file in the next two years, before the 5-year grace period ends. It also commended positive collaboration with the Executive Committee, Interior Ministry and Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) for successful operation.

In an unrelated development, MP Musallam Al-Barrak affirmed that a voluntary parliamentary session will be held to vote on draft law expected to be submitted in coming days to suspend bilateral relations with Syria, in which loans given to Damascus shall be suspended for one year.

Al-Barrak made the announcement at a Ghabqa the Popular Labor Bloc organized recently. He said draft laws will be in the next session to control corruption and that includes penalties to deter government officials and ministers from violations.