Crackdown on visa violators

KUWAIT: A number of expats were arrested on Monday in the first day of a crackdown by the interior ministry on residency violators who failed to benefit from a three-month amnesty for illegals, the interior ministry said. The ministry did not specify how many people were arrested but said that they were referred to concerned authorities in preparation to be deported to their home countries.

During the amnesty which ended on Sunday, thousands of illegal expats are believed to have benefited by either legalizing their stay after paying fines or leaving the country without paying any fine and still have the right to return on new visas. The crackdown on the first day was led by Interior Ministry Undersecretary Lt Gen Sheikh Salem Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah and a number of high-ranking officers, and covered several residential areas. The interior ministry had said the inspection campaigns would continue until violators are arrested and deported.

Meanwhile, a judge on Monday renewed the detention for two weeks of eight people — a Kuwaiti, three Indians and four Egyptians — in connection with last month’s building fire in Mangaf that killed 49 people, 46 of them Indians and three Filipinos. The men were accused of manslaughter, wrongful injury and negligence.

They denied the charges and demanded to be set free, but the judge rejected their request.

Also, the court of cassation on Monday upheld a seven-year jail term against an interior ministry colonel for beating and partially paralyzing a Bangladeshi worker for not washing his car. The court learned that the officer caused a 50 percent disability of the Bangladeshi laborer and ordered the officer to pay compensation to him, which will be decided by the civil court. The verdict of the court is final and cannot be challenged. The court of appeals on Monday sentenced a former MP to 28 months in jail for publicly insulting a Kuwaiti tribe ahead of the April 4 parliamentary elections. The case now goes to the court of cassation.

Minister of Social Affairs, Family, Childhood, and Minister of Youth Dr Amthal Al-Huwailah on Monday ordered an investigation to the public prosecutor regarding an incident related to child exploitation. This came after a video circulating on social media showing a child - no more than 10 years old - tied with ropes and compelled to pull a vehicle with his body, an act deemed as physical abuse, according to the statement. Huwailah directed the Supreme Council for Family Affairs to follow up on the matter and take serious actions to protect children from violence according to the law, as she emphasized the necessity to combat child abuse, protect them from exploitation and raise awareness.

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