‘Bedouns paid bribe of KD 4 mln to obtain 1,500 passports from mid-2014 to 2018’

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Price of single passport ranges between KD 2K to 3K

KUWAIT CITY, July 26: The Ministry of Interior two weeks ago opened files of some Bedouns who obtained passports under Article (17) through bribe, reports Al-Qabas daily. Senior sources revealed by checking the suspicious transactions that happened from mid-2014 to 2018, it discovered about 1,500 passports were sold to the Bedouns for about 4 million dinars.

The sources said the price of a single passport ranges between two thousand and 3,000 dinars. If travel is limited to only one country, the price is 2,000 dinars, if it is multidestination and without restrictions the price exceeds 3,000 dinars.

The sources confirmed that those passports will be cancelled and withdrawn because after checking the files it showed that a majority of those who obtained them had security restrictions imposed against them and do not meet the conditions but the restrictions were lifted and passports were issued to them in exchange for money.

The sources were surprised that some of the cases, such as those with chronic diseases, and their treatment required traveling abroad used legal methods to obtain the permission for Article 17 passport but when the doors closed in their face due to some or other reason they opted to get the document through bribe.

The sources said in one of the cases, a Bedoun patient suffering from cancer paid 2,000 dinars to one of the mediators in the Jahra region specifically to obtain the passport to be able to travel for treatment, pointing out that the mediator was able within two days to sign the transaction, and then get the passport in record time.

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