The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is following closely the deterioration of conditions for the Bedoon (stateless) community in Kuwait. They have been deprived of their basic human rights for a long time since the country got its independence in 1961. They are well settled in Kuwait, which they recognised as their only country, however they are classified as ‘illegal residents’ by the Kuwaiti state.

In early 2024, Al-Qabas newspaper published news about the government’s intention to resolve the situation of the Bedoon community and to facilitate a legal pathway for their naturalisation if applicable. However, GCHR has received recently credible reports that the Kuwaiti authorities have been increasingly targeting the Bedoon community with measures that caused them greater distress.

The Bedoon community is facing a humanitarian crisis due to an insisted denial by top authorities of their right to citizenship, any proper form of personal identification and travel documents, access to medical care, education and jobs, in addition to civil documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates.

Independent legal experts unanimously agreed that the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs has failed to achieve the objectives for which it was established by the Emiri Decree in 2010. It has clearly and explicitly failed to address the situation of thousands of members of the Bedoon community, who continue to suffer from the authorities’ confiscation of their basic civil and human rights.

The chronic problem of the Bedoon citizens was left unresolved and more than 110,000 are living now as stateless people according to a 2014 estimate by the Research Directorate of Kuwait’s National Assembly. The numbers are staggering considering that the whole Kuwaiti population is about 1,500,000 recognised nationals. The problem of statelessness is also exacerbated by the ongoing stripping of Kuwaiti nationalities of thousands of naturalised citizens since last year. Article 17 of the Kuwait passport Law 11/1962 refers to a special measure to grant temporary travel documents to stateless Bedoon in Kuwait. In June 2024, the Kuwaiti authorities suspended the issuance and renewal of these passports, except for limited humanitarian cases such as medical treatment or education.

Also, the Bedoon community are fully monitored by the state with regard to their other human rights such as freedom of expression on the Internet and beyond. GCHR has  recently documented the unfair sentencing of prominent  Bedoon human rights defender Mohammed Al-Barghash to three years in prison. This has been the case since 2013, where human rights activists from the Bedoon community have been peacefully protesting the legal limbo in which they had to live through without any resolution or path for resolving the lack of basic rights. Many Bedoon activists have been targeted for posting demands on social media networks to resolve their issues or for writing about the ongoing injustices they face.

GCHR is following the case of a young Bedoon man whose passport and security identification documents have been revoked. He was born and raised in Kuwait, and his father has served Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion. After his father’s death, the Kuwaiti government has taken the home that was formerly granted to him for his service by the Ministry of Interior. He is now facing serious consequences of having no identification documents, no freedom of movement to travel anywhere, loss of government-issued housing, and no access to basic needs, such as health and education.

The deprivation of generations of Bedoon in Kuwait of their basic rights, despite their effective contributions to serving the country and their sincere sense of belonging to it, is a deeply frustrating matter. Also, all these gross human rights violations weaken the national spirit, create a rift between different segments of society, and hinder the building of a prosperous future for all citizens and residents without any discrimination.

Recommendations

GCHR calls on the Kuwaiti government to:

1. Reconsider the treatment of the Bedoon community and facilitate a legal path for their naturalisation as promised by officials before;
2. Ensure that every member of the Bedoon community is able to access documentation, basic services of health, education and employment; and
3. Release the activists involved in supporting Bedoon rights and ensure their ability to voice their grievances and appeal to officials without reprisals.