KUWAIT CITY, Feb 29: Over the past few hours, the Kuwaiti authorities have cancelled the residence permits of 47 Syrians who arrived at the Kuwait International Airport using forged passports, reports Al-Anba daily. The daily added, the Syrians have been deported to where they came from. According to reports the Syrians have to carry the authentic Syrian official passports and apply for residence permits. The Interior Ministry should have referred them to the Public Prosecution when they arrived in the country on forged passports, but this did not happen at that time.

In this context, the Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Ports Affairs Major-General Faisal Al-Saneen added the Interior Ministry is obliged to deport expatriates who arrive in the country, even if they hold valid residence permits, if it is proved they are holding forged passports. Al-Saneen added valid residence permit is not an excuse for the authorities to turn a blind eye to fraud in official documents and enter the country using false passports. He added, the ministry had turned a blind eye earlier to those who had entered the country on false passports but the trend can no longer continue. He noted that if a Syrian has entered the country on a forged passport and went out of the country after spending some time in Kuwait, he is still subjected to deportation if it is proven he carries a forged passport.