Another arrested on Violation of Passport Act

Sainudheen Perukkangil, a resident of Malappuram in Kerala, on Saturday became the 72nd person to be arrested in the last 14 months for carrying a Yemeni visa stamp in his passport. Immigration at the international terminal of the airport detected the stamp, resulting in Perukkangil arrest.

He was charged under the Passport Act and prohibitory orders for violating a 2017 government order that banned travel to Yemen due to security concerns and threats to life.

The majority of those arrested since January 2022 hail from the worker category, having travelled to Yemen and Libya in search of jobs. Police and legal experts believe that many of them are unaware of the governments ban on travel to Yemen and should not be treated as accused.

Instead, they are victims who travel to Gulf countries for work and are asked by their employers to go to Yemen, where they may have an office branch, and get their passports stamped with a Yemen visa.