S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E For example, on 13 June 2026, the Al Qabas news platform reported that the government had stripped 2193 individuals of their citizenship, noting, additionally, that “[C]itizenship [will] be withdrawn from anyone who acquired it by dependency from these individuals.”144 50,000+ people have been stripped of their citizenship during the campaign, as reported on 11 August 2025 In the 10 June 2026 report of the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls,its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur noted that “as of August 2025, between 40,000 and 60,000 individuals have been affected by these decisions, with women being disproportionately affected, particularly women who had naturalized through marriage to Kuwaiti men under Article 8 of the Nationality Law [...]”145 She also noted that the GoK retroactively withdrew the nationality of 2,176 adult children as a result of Decree-Law 22/2026, adding that “The vast majority of these children were born in Kuwait and had lived in Kuwait all their lives.”146 At the time of writing, the citizenship revocation campaign continues apace. A July 2026 report set out the details of a complex, fraud-linked case relating to a deceased man whose name - and personal, legal status - had reportedly been added to that of a Kuwaiti citizen. Since the government revokes the nationality of descendants of those stripped retroactively of their nationality, the GoK reportedly revoked the nationality of 520 people linked to the individual. The complexity of the case rests on the mix of fraudulent conduct by at least one person, but otherwise lawful conduct by others, involving also children. The individuals involved include “a former member of parliament and a former government adviser.”147 Conclusion: whither accountability for placing thousands in a state of exception? Amir Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah and the GoKʼs citizenship stripping campaign of 2024-2026 violated and continues to violate Kuwaitʼs international human rights obligations. Decree laws 116/2024 and 158/2024, issued on 23 and 31 December 2024, amending the 1959 Nationality Law, along with the 5 April 2026, Decree-Law No. 52 of 2026. Regarding the amendment of certain provisions of Amiri Decree No. 15 of 1959 concerning the Kuwaiti Nationality Law created statelessness and increased the risk of statelessness. Legal revisions enacted in 2024 and 2026 locked in citizenship revocation patterns that are discriminatory and arbitrary in their application; that have violated the human rights and dignity of tens, if not hundreds of thousands. As of July 2026, the government had not implemented a meaningful, independent appeals mechanism; while Kuwaitʼs courts have adjudicated state procedures in nationality cases, and (rarely) ruled against the government, the 2024 and 2026 revisions remove, wholesale, court oversight of nationality-related decisions, classifying such matters as sovereign decisions. As a result, the GoK has violated its own constitutional provision of a right to a remedy, along with a swathe of treaty obligations. Reports suggest that a great many of those stripped of their citizenship acquired it through fraud, forgery or misrepresentation. Fair and robust procedures to deal with such instances are in order to combat illegality, but must comply with international human rights standards. 52