‘No harboring, report expat offenders after June 17’

KUWAIT CITY, June 8: With just 8 days remaining until the deadline set by the Ministry of Interior for residency violators to rectify their status, which concludes on Monday, June 17, the Ministry is actively facilitating and expediting the processing of applications from those seeking to rectify their status, reports Al-Rai daily. Over the past two months, an average of 1,000 violators per day has approached the Residence Affairs Departments across the six governorates, as well as the additional centers in Mubarak Al-Kabeer and Al-Raqi, to correct their conditions. Brigadier General Mazyad Al-Mutairi, Assistant Director General of the General Administration of Residency Affairs, emphasized that the deadline extension, based on the instructions of the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef, signifies a humanitarian gesture toward violators.

The violators were granted a three-month period from March 17 to June 17, which represents a golden opportunity unlikely to be repeated. Following the specified deadline, an integrated security plan will be launched, with no tolerance or hesitation in apprehending violators and those who harbor them. Strict measures will be enforced to control and deport violators from the country. Al-Mutairi highlighted the deployment of resources and the removal of obstacles for violators, with six departments allocated to receive violators wishing to amend their status in the morning, and two centers operating in the evening for those opting to depart. The upcoming widespread campaigns will leave no violator unaccounted for, targeting all governorates and companies employing violators. Those arrested will be detained, fingerprinted, and deported following the investigation to identify employers and those who provided the shelter.

The individuals who are deported will face a lifetime ban from re-entering Kuwait and a prohibition from entering Gulf Cooperation Council countries as per security agreements. According to Major General Ali Al-Adwani, Assistant Undersecretary for Residency and Nationality Affairs, violators pose a threat to homeland security and society, thus stringent measures have been devised in collaboration with Ministry of Interior sectors to clamp down on violators.

The era of leniency has ended, and violators will face the full force of the law. Cooperation with security personnel is urged from both current violators and those nearing residency expiration while at the same time imploring citizens and residents not to harbor or employ violators but to report them promptly.