Doctors in Kuwait may subject men entering the county to screening tests in order to “detect”, and ban gay people from entering the country.

The director of public health at the country’s health ministry Yousuf Mindkar, said that the clinical screening of expatriates entering the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) would be extended to include tests to identify gay people who will then be “barred” from entering the country.,

“Health centres conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC countries,” he told local daily Al Rai. “However, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states.”

It is illegal to be gay in all of the GCC member countries. These include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Article 193 of the Penal Code in Kuwait punishes homosexuality between men, over the age of 21, with up to seven years imprisonment. If the conduct involves persons under the age of 21, then imprisonment can be for a maximum of ten years.