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Mirroring US President Trump's Muslim ban, Citizens from five Muslim-majority countries will no longer be able to obtain Kuwaiti visas, after reports the Gulf state issued tight entry restrictions.
Citzens from the countries that include: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan will not be able to obtain visit, tourism or trade Kuwaiti visas with the news coming one day after the US slapped its own restrictions on seven Muslim-majority countries.
Passport holders from the countries will no lot be allowed to enter the Gulf state while the blanket ban is in place and have been told not to apply to visas.
Kuwaiti sources told local media that the restrictions were in place due to the "instability" in the five countries and that the ban would be lifted once the security situation improves.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have all witnessed violence from extremist groups, while Syria and Iraq are embroiled in internal conflicts.
Although mainly peaceful, tensions between Iran and the Gulf have ratched up over the past year with the GCC powers accusing Tehran of attempting to destabalise the region.
Kuwait is concerned about the threat of extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group with both militant organisations have a presence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Kuwait has issued a number of laws targeting foreigners in recent years, and made it one of the most unfriendly Gulf states towards expatriates.
In 2015, Kuwait was named as the worst place in the world for expatriates in a 64 country InterNations survey.
Meanwhile, Trump's Muslim ban has been met with widespread outrage since it was signed on Friday, although Gulf states have remained quiet on the issue.
Dubai security chief Dhahi Khalfan outraged Syrians and other nationalities included in the ban when he publically backed Trump's decision.
However, Khaleej Times reports that Pakistan's ambassador in Kuwait said that Kuwait hasn't placed any visa ban on Pakistani nationals. Ghulam Dastagir was quoted as saying that news on social media about the ban was baseless.
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Albawaba
Citzens from the countries that include: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan will not be able to obtain visit, tourism or trade Kuwaiti visas with the news coming one day after the US slapped its own restrictions on seven Muslim-majority countries.
Passport holders from the countries will no lot be allowed to enter the Gulf state while the blanket ban is in place and have been told not to apply to visas.
Kuwaiti sources told local media that the restrictions were in place due to the "instability" in the five countries and that the ban would be lifted once the security situation improves.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have all witnessed violence from extremist groups, while Syria and Iraq are embroiled in internal conflicts.
Although mainly peaceful, tensions between Iran and the Gulf have ratched up over the past year with the GCC powers accusing Tehran of attempting to destabalise the region.
Kuwait is concerned about the threat of extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group with both militant organisations have a presence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Kuwait has issued a number of laws targeting foreigners in recent years, and made it one of the most unfriendly Gulf states towards expatriates.
In 2015, Kuwait was named as the worst place in the world for expatriates in a 64 country InterNations survey.
Meanwhile, Trump's Muslim ban has been met with widespread outrage since it was signed on Friday, although Gulf states have remained quiet on the issue.
Dubai security chief Dhahi Khalfan outraged Syrians and other nationalities included in the ban when he publically backed Trump's decision.
However, Khaleej Times reports that Pakistan's ambassador in Kuwait said that Kuwait hasn't placed any visa ban on Pakistani nationals. Ghulam Dastagir was quoted as saying that news on social media about the ban was baseless.
---
Albawaba
