KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior has continued to crackdown on residency law violators across the country after the amnesty deadline ended on June 30. An inspection campaign led by Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Public Security Affairs Major General Hamad Al-Munaifi and Director-General of the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Security Directorate Brigadier General Muhammad Al-Hamli has resulted in multiple arrests in Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate. People found in violation of the law were referred to the competent authority to take the necessary legal measures and deport them from the country.

More were arrested in another campaign in Al-Jahra governorate for violating the residency law. Officers, led by Director-General of Al-Jahra Security Directorate Brigadier General Hamad Al-Tawala, also found people in possession of drugs and illicit substances.

A statement released by the ministry’s traffic department said traffic officers have also booked 12 people found in violation of the residency law and 17 others who didn’t have legal documents. The arrests were made as officers while conducting traffic inspections over the past week.

In a statement published on the Interior Ministry’s website Thursday, the ministry urged everyone to cooperate with security personnel in reporting violators and outlaws by calling the emergency phone number (112).

Kuwait had extended the deadline for illegal expatriates to readjust their legal status or leave the country until June 30. The deadline was originally set to end on June 17. There are no official figures available on how many expats made use of the grace period. But an official was quoted last month saying that thousands of expatriates have benefited from the campaign.

The campaign, which was designed to address the age-old residency violations issue plaguing the country went on for three months. Expats who took advantage of the grace period given by the Interior Ministry could either leave Kuwait without facing penalties or adjust their legal status by fulfilling the necessary legal requirements. Those who chose to adjust their status and remain in Kuwait would still have had to pay the fine, which could add up to KD 600. Expats who didn’t have a valid passport were issued travel documents from their embassies to facilitate their departure.

Nearly 53,000 tickets

The ministry’s traffic department has also intensified its clampdown on traffic law violators in Shuwaikh Industrial area.

Inspectors with the department issued 187 tickets against mechanic shops for violating the law including fixing a car after an accident without getting written permission from police and changing the color of a vehicle without a permit. Inspectors seized 23 vehicles for illegal tinting and loud muffler noise.

Over the period between June 29–July 5, police issued 52,872 traffic tickets, according to statistics released by the department. Inspectors have also booked case on 17 minors for driving without a license and seized 61 vehicles for various violations. Officers have also responded to 2,375 traffic reports, including 1,365 accidents.