S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E D e c r e e L a w s 1 1 6 /2 0 2 4 a n d 1 5 8 /2 0 2 4 : t h e f i r s t c o m p r e h e n s i v e l i m i t a t i o n s to t h e Na t i o n a l i t y L a w The GoK repor tedly asser ted that the general objective of 116/2024 was to strengthen nationality security, combat the challenge of falsif ication or manipulation of state -issued identity documents, and to achieve “social justice”, including by “protecting the children of Kuwaiti women and ensuring the stability of families”. Decree Law 116/2024 provides that: 49 • A non-Kuwaiti woman who married a Kuwaiti since 1987 will not acquire Kuwaiti nationality; • The naturalisation of a male, non-Kuwaiti no longer facilitates his wifeʼs naturalisation; • The children of a naturalised, male Kuwait are considered Kuwaiti and have the right to choose their nationality within a year of reaching majority, or the age of 21; • The Minister of Interior be able to recommend the issue of a decree that strips a person of their Kuwaiti nationality where the GoK deems that granted “through fraud, forgery, or based on false statements”; 50 • Citizenship be removed where a person “is convicted by a final judgment after being granted Kuwaiti citizenship of a crime involving moral turpitude or dishonesty, or of a crime against internal or external state security, or of a crime against God, the prophets, or the Amir”; • A minor born to a Kuwaiti mother, and who continually resides in Kuwait, where his non-Kuwaiti father is “a prisoner, or [who has] divorced his mother irrevocably, or died, may be treated as a Kuwaiti until he reaches the age of majority.” • “Modern scientific methods” will be used in the determination of nationality (without reference to any other form of investigative mechanism); The December 2024 amendments that broadened the scope of revocation of nationality played a crucial role in enabling the citizenship stripping campaign initiated by the government in mid-2024. The amendments, set out in Ar ticles 10, 11, 13, 14 and 21 bis A and B of the 1959 Law, broadened and cemented the restrictive scope of access to Kuwaiti citizenship as presaged by the government ʼs mid-2024 citizenship stripping campaign. They are as follows: • Ar ticle 10 provides for the loss of nationality where a Kuwaiti woman voluntarily acquires the nationality of a non-Kuwaiti husband; • Ar ticle 11 provides for the loss of nationality where an adult, male Kuwaiti voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another state. It provides for his wife OVERVIEW 1123