Kuwait repatriates 20 Sri Lankan prisoners under exchange agreement

A special flight carrying 20 Sri Lankan prisoners from Kuwait landed at Katunayake International Airport, on March 26, 2025,. This repatriation was made possible through a prisoner exchange agreement between Sri Lanka and Kuwait.

A prisoner exchange agreement between Kuwait and Sri Lanka was signed in 2007. Under this agreement, 32 Sri Lankan prisoners were deported to their home country for the first time in 2024.

According to the Sri Lankan newspaper, Daily News, this group of convicts included individuals who had been previously arrested by Kuwaiti security authorities. After undergoing trial procedures, all of them received prison sentences.

The newspaper reported that a team of Sri Lankan prison officials was present at Katunayake Airport to receive the convicts and transport them to Welikada Magazine Prison in the capital, Colombo.

Source: Al Rai