KUWAIT CITY, April 22 — Kuwait has revoked the citizenship of 172 people in a fresh round of nationality decisions published in the latest supplement of the official gazette Kuwait Alyoum. According to local reporting, the move was split across two decisions: one affecting six individuals under Article 10 of the 1959 nationality law, and another affecting 166 individuals under Article 11.
The latest action lands in the middle of a much wider campaign that has steadily expanded over the past year. Kuwait Times reported in May 2025 that the government had already revoked the citizenship of well over 35,000 people since the drive began, with a large share involving women who had obtained nationality through marriage, while other cases were tied to allegations such as forgery or false documentation.
The legal backdrop has also shifted sharply this month. Kuwait’s official government portal said a new decree-law amending the citizenship framework was published on April 12, 2026, adding stricter provisions on nationality, including rules requiring naturalized Kuwaitis holding another citizenship to renounce it within a set period. The amendments also widened the procedures for withdrawal and revocation, with decisions issued by decree on the recommendation of the interior minister and with approval from the higher citizenship investigation committee.
That committee has taken on a bigger role in 2026. Reporting in March said Kuwait reconstituted the Supreme Committee for Kuwaiti Citizenship Investigation, placing it under the leadership of First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah, alongside other senior officials. In practical terms, that means citizenship reviews are now being handled through a more centralized and politically weighty structure.
What makes this latest batch notable is not just the number — 172 is smaller than some earlier mass revocations — but the sense that Kuwait’s authorities are keeping up a steady rhythm of enforcement while simultaneously rewriting the rules underneath it. Earlier this month, official-gazette decisions reported by Gulf and Kuwaiti media stripped citizenship from 2,182 individuals in one batch, showing how quickly the numbers can rise from one publication cycle to the next.
For now, the government’s stated line is that the changes are meant to protect national identity and tighten legal control over who qualifies as Kuwaiti. Critics, though, have argued that the scale and speed of the campaign raise serious questions about due process, transparency and the long-term consequences for families caught up in the decisions.
