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Compulsory Military Service Returns to Kuwait | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Kuwaiti army helicopters fly past a national flag during a military parade in Kuwait City on March 11, 2009. (Photo: AFP – Yasser al-Zayyat)


Kuwait- Kuwait officially started implementing a new mandatory military service law on Tuesday under the name of “National Service,” that was signed by Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on May 4, 2015.

Chief of the National Service Authority Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Salem Al-Omairi announced that Kuwait will start receiving 13,217 Kuwaiti would-be conscripts who will reach the age of 18 effective on May 10, to conduct the mandatory military service during a period of 12 months divided in two phases – four months for training and eight months for military service.

During a press conference he held on Tuesday, Omairi said that those who will be called for the mandatory military service are men born after May 10, 1999, adding that they could start to register as of next May 10.

“After 20 years, the mandatory military service was halted to restart operating under a new law,” the chief of the National Service Authority said.

He added that during the period in which the service was stopped, Kuwaiti concerned officials were studying a new and advanced law capable of following-up with the internal and foreign changes.

Last week, the military defense council, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah discussed preparations for the enforcement of the national military service law, Kuwait’s official news agency KUNA reported.

The law of 2015 was approved by the cabinet in May 10, 2015 and would be effective as of May 10, 2017.
Advisor to the military National Service Authority Dr. Falah al-Anzi said that every would-be conscript has a deadline of 60 days to register, or he would be prosecuted.

Anzi said that those who fail to register would be subject to a series of legal penalties, including an extension of the period of mandatory military service.

He added that any concerned Kuwaiti man violating the law in case of war or a call for general mobilization would be imprisoned from 3 months to 5 years and should pay a fine of 10,000 Dinar.