According to a statement from the Ministry of Interior, the General Directorate of Emergency Police conducted a security campaign on August 13 that targeted residency violations, traffic infractions and other issues in various governorates and along main roads. The ministry’s tally listed 33 total arrests, among them 27 expatriates detained for expired residency permits and 12 individuals held for lacking official identification documents. Officers seized 15 vehicles, impounded 26 others and recorded 26 noise violations in the course of the operation, while also addressing three drug or alcohol related cases.
The ministry reported that forces seized one weapon during the sweep, detained one person at the Traffic Center and handled two criminal and civil cases as part of the same drive. These figures come from a coordinated effort among security branches to enforce compliance with residency rules and traffic regulations throughout the country. The operation reflects ongoing efforts by authorities to address documentation lapses among the expatriate community and reduce road violations.
Public Authority for Civil Information figures place Kuwait’s expatriate population at more than two thirds of the total residents, a demographic reality that has made residency enforcement a consistent priority for the Ministry of Interior. A ministry decision issued earlier in 2026 updated penalties for expired or unrenewed residencies to a daily fine of 2 KWD for the first month, rising to 4 KWD thereafter with a cap at 1,200 KWD. Such financial measures accompany the arrest campaigns in an attempt to improve compliance rates across the large foreign workforce.
In a comparable initiative announced recently by the ministry, police arrested 1,253 individuals wanted for security reasons or for violating residency and labor laws in the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area. That drive, carried out under directives from the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, also saw Kuwait Municipality issue 777 violation reports, remove 27 abandoned vehicles and place warning stickers on 64 more. The repetition of such operations across different locations underscores the sustained focus on regulatory enforcement.
The Ministry of Interior has framed these campaigns as essential to public order, with traffic violations alone often numbering in the hundreds per operation as seen in the latest results of 1,300 recorded infractions. Coordination with other state departments ensures that those arrested are referred to relevant authorities for further processing under existing laws. Data from these repeated actions provide a snapshot of persistent challenges in maintaining updated residency documents and road safety standards nationwide.
