Kuwait Implements Biometric Identity Checks in Latest Nationality Crackdown
Kuwait’s surge in citizenship revocations has taken another worrying turn in recent days. The constitutional monarchy, led by Amir HH Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, has implemented mandatory biometric and DNA testing as part of a supposed effort to crack down on fraudulent citizenship and dual-nationals.
A new Ministerial Resolution introduced by Sheikh Fahad Al Yousef, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, allows for the use of iris, fingerprint, and facial biometric data in assessing citizenship changes. This follows a mass biometric registration process that the government implemented in 2024.
Although, an estimated three hundred and fifty thousand expatriates, citizens, and stateless people are yet to register after missing the deadline in December last year. For a population of only five million, this is not insignificant. If the status of their nationality is called into question, they are required to provide biometric data that is then assessed by specialist Nationality committees.
The General Department of Crime Evidence is responsible for the programme that will use these metrics to ‘confirm or deny paternity and lineage’, a troubling development that comes as part of a series of similar moves by the Kuwaiti government. The widespread de-nationalisation campaign has been a key feature of the Amir’s tenure, with announcements of revocation made through weekly newspaper declarations.
Additionally, significant amendments to Kuwait’s Nationality Law have broadened the government’s authority to revoke citizenship and widened the parameters around the basis for revocation. Actions deemed harmful to the state’s interest or external security, offenses against religious sanctities or the Amir, and alleged crimes against state security will now be lawful grounds for revocation.
Worryingly, these legal changes have been applied retroactively, stripping thousands more Kuwaitis of their nationality and rendering them stateless.
The government’s unwavering commitment towards pursuing these avenues has become clear in recent days, with former MP Walid Al-Tabtabaei sentenced to four years in prison for challenging the Amir’s powers in social media posts concerning his decision to dissolve and suspend the National Assembly.
Kuwaiti women have been disproportionately affected by the changes to the Nationality Law. The government has issued numerous decrees stripping thousands of women of their citizenship and has permanently revised laws that provided women citizenship through marriage.
It has become clear the casualties of Kuwait’s turn towards authoritarianism are not just political figures or members of demographics groups. Prominent preacher Nabil Al Awadhy has had his citizenship revoked for a second time in eleven years. Al Awadhy, despite having a Kuwaiti mother, has been left stateless. He joins prominent journalist Mubarak Al-Omair as just two notable names to have had their citizenship revoked.
For each famous individual there are hundreds, if not thousands, of ordinary Kuwaitis who have been affected by the campaign. Latest figures put the estimated number of revocations at forty-two thousand, a number that is certain to rise following the most recent developments.
As the government turns to these biometric identification methods, long-standing concerns over privacy, human rights, and free speech become all the more prominent. Evidently, the lack of legal recourse available to those subject to revocations has enabled the government to enact sweeping changes to its demographic.
Moreover, Kuwait’s draconian approach to genetic privacy will no doubt have severe consequences for its global reputation. Democracy-focused NGO Freedom House this year designated Kuwait as ‘Not Free’, a downgrade from the ‘Partially Free’ rating it received last year.
Freedom House’s rankings note changes in a country’s standards of political rights and civil liberties, and Kuwait’s updated ranking puts it on par with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, who also received ‘Not Free’ designations.
Such a rating underscores the authoritarian policies and actions undertaken by the leadership to dismantle Kuwait’s democratic structures. This also means that Kuwait can no longer claim to be the most democratic state in the GCC, a title it has long coveted.
The report notes the unilateral and unconstitutional suspension of Kuwait’s Parliament as a key factor in its worsening ranking. While even Saudi Arabia has a Shura Council, and fellow GCC member Bahrain has a Parliament of its own, Kuwait has neither.
Observers have also noted the sharp irony in that following the liberation of Kuwait from Iraq in 1991, Iraq’s trajectory has turned toward democracy, compared to Kuwait’s recent authoritarian tilt.
These changes will also do little to encourage tourists and expats to the area, as the developments are clearly in conflict with the country’s plans to become a model representative of cultural and urban heritage.
It appears that the Amir’s promise to make ‘difficult decisions to save the country’ is one that includes the expansion of government powers at the expense of its own citizens. With no signs as to how far the latest revocations will extend, or how long the broader campaign will continue for, there is significant reason to be concerned.
