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Kuwait Revokes 12,000 Citizenships in Three Months · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Kuwait's government has intensified its crackdown on dual nationality holders, stripping citizenship from 2,863 individuals across 54 countries in its latest wave of revocations, which it announced on December 13.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: This action brings the total number of citizenship revocations to more than 12,000 since August 2024.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: First Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahahad Yousse Saud al-Sabah initiated the sweeping reforms to address what he describes as issues of purchasing loyalties and fraudulent naturalization.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Under Kuwait's nationality law, Article 11, citizens who voluntarily acquire another nationality automatically lose their Kuwaiti citizenship.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: The government has abolished Article VIII of the nationality law, which previously provided certain pathways to Kuwaiti citizenship.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Constitutional experts have set 1987 as the cutoff year for citizenship revocations under Article VII.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone who has forged documents, provided false information, or engaged in deception will lose their citizenship because they do not deserve it, a government source explains.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: The Interior Ministry now operates a confidential hotline encouraging citizens to report cases of illegal dual citizenship or cases of citizenship fraud, promising complete anonymity to whistleblowers.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Courts have sentenced several individuals who illegally obtained citizenship to jail terms.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Despite its aggressive stance on fraud, the government has implemented protective measures for affected individuals.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Women married to Kuwaiti men, divorcees, and widows who lose citizenship will keep their employment and current salaries.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Those already retired will continue receiving their pensions.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: The reforms also introduce new regulations for non-Kwaiti spouses, requiring a 15-year residency for foreign wives of Kuwaiti citizens to qualify for naturalization instead of the previous average wait time of five years.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Children of Kuwaiti women who obtained citizenship through their mothers face uncertain futures.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: While not all will lose their citizenship, a considerable number of them will indeed lose their Kuwaiti citizenship, according to government sources.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: The Council of Ministers plans additional amendments to strengthen Kuwait's nationality law, aiming to close existing loopholes while protecting national identity.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: These changes represent Kuwait's most consequential citizenship reform since its independence.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Ahmad Abbas on IMIDaily.com.
• 2:32
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