S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E Overview “ W h a t i s h a p p e n i n g i n K u w a i t h a s go n e b e y o n d m a d n e s s , a n d i t s c o n s e q u e n c e s m a y b e e v e n m o re s e v e re t h a n t h e i n v a s i o n . W i t h t h e s t ro k e o f a p e n , 1 6 % o f t h e c i t i z e n s w e re s t r i p p e d o f t h e i r c i t i z e n s h i p a n d re l e g a t e d t o s t a t e l e s s s t a t u s o r f o re i g n e r s . U p t o t o d a y , 2 2 8 K u w a i t i s , i n c l u d i n g t h e i r f a m i l i e s a n d a l l t h e i r d e p e n d e n t s , w e re g ra n t e d cit iz e n sh ip [m ea n in g o r sco p e u n clea r ]. I n l e s s t h a n t w o y e a r s , t h e n u m b e r o f t h o s e s t r i p p e d o f t h e i r c i t i z e n s h i p h a s a p p ro a c h e d 7 0 ,0 0 0 , n o t c o u n t i n g c h i l d re n a n d g ra n d c h i l d re n . T h e t o t a l n u m b e r, i n c l u d i n g t h o s e w h o h a v e re l i n q u i s h e d t h e i r n a t i o n a l i t y , re a c h e s m o re t h a n 2 3 5 ,0 0 0 K u w a i t i s , re p re s e n t i n g a p p ro x i m a t e l y 1 6 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n . T h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s w e re s t r i p p e d o f t h e i r c i t i z e n s h i p t h ro u g h d i s c r i m i n a t o r y d e c i s i o n s . To d a y , n a m e s a re n o t j u s t n u m b e r s o r s y m b o l s ; t h e y a re t h e n a m e s o f t h o s e w h o s h a p e d K u w a i t ” A p p r o x i m a t e a n d p a r t i a l t r a n s l a t i o n o f a p o l e m i c p o s t o n In s t a g r a m , 2 5 Ja n u a r y 2 0 2 6 . S e e : W a t a n N e w s U S A , h t t p s ://w w w .i n s t a g r a m .c o m /r e e l s / D T 8 c 5 y 4 k w g R / a c c e s s e d 2 6 Ja n u a r y 2 0 2 6 ; l i n k n o l o n g e r w o r k i n g a t t h e tim e of publication The present report does not address the consequences of the attacks on Kuwaiti territory in the context of armed conflict in the Persian Gulf that started in February 2026 and which is ongoing at the time of writing, July 2026. On 27 May 2024, Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the ruler, or Amir of Kuwait, issued a decree forming the Supreme Committee for the Investigation of Kuwaiti Nationality (the Supreme Committee).1 Over the course of 2024-2025 and into 2026, this body arbitrarily stripped scores of thousands of Kuwaitis of their citizenship, violating a catalogue of internationally recognised human rights. The Government of Kuwait (GoK) enacted its Nationality Law in 1959, prior to achieving independence from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1961. Over the following years, successive governments enacted piecemeal amendments. In December 2024 and April 2026, the GoK enacted comprehensively revised legislation. It provided the retroactive basis for the mass revocation of citizenship and wholesale narrowing of access to Kuwaiti citizenship. In March 2025, the Amir asserted, in a televised speech, that the citizenship stripping campaign was part of a national effort to “restore Kuwait to its rightful people, clean and free of impurities”, with the official goal being “national purification”.2 Interior Minister Fahad al-Yousef claimed, also in March 2025, on Kuwaitʼs al-Rai TV that the country had been “hijacked” by other nationalities: “I will not mention these nationalities. There are nationalities that are foreign to Kuwaiti society – its social life, language, character and social relations.” Fahad al-Yousef claimed these individuals represented a collective danger of undermining the “authentic nature” of Kuwaiti society and creating “lineage confusion.”3 The preamble to an April 2026 amendment to the law on citizenship asserted that “protecting the national identity remains a top priority”, without explaining the character of the concept.4 This conceptual approach and the GoKʼs legitimisation for its conduct has not changed at the time of writing. 7