S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E Between 2024-2026 the GoK arbitrarily stripped the “... restore Kuwait to its citizenship of: rightful people, clean • Women married to Kuwaitis; and free of impurities” • Those granted citizenship for services to Kuwait in T H E A M IR , T E L E V IS E D S P EE CH, MARCH 2 0 2 5 previous years, decades or generations, also depriving their descendants of citizenship; • Those deemed retrospectively to have acquired citizenship fraudulently or illegally, invalidating their descendentsʼ right to citizenship; • Those considered dual nationals, illegal under Kuwaiti law; and • Those deemed by an administrative decision not subject to review or independent review, a security risk or whose continued citizenship the GoK considered undesirable or detrimental. Insofar as Kuwait does not allow dual citizenship, the GoKʼs citizenship revocation campaign has, as a consequence, created statelessness or heightened the risk of statelessness. For example, women who abided by the law in previous years and decades by surrendering their nationality upon marriage, faced statelessness as an immediate consequence of government action. Likewise, those granted or bestowed citizenship by the government for acts benef icial to Kuwait, generally surrendered, in line with the law, former nationalities and who, along with their descendants, also faced statelessness arising from government action. Depending on the individual or family, the impact of the revocation decision means that the GoK summarily withdrew their right to attend a government school, access free state health care, have a job with the government or have a job at all, or receive their state pension. These actions have placed countless individuals in the position of having to turn to help from embassies and consulates of states whose citizenship they may have previously held, or that of their parents or grandparentsʼ citizenship: GoK actions manufactured statelessness and left thousands of people at risk of statelessness, where individuals - at the time of writing - have been unable to re -acquire nationality. Evidence collated by our organisations indicates that in most cases, people obtained Kuwaiti nationality in accordance with the laws that were in force at the time. This includes the vast majority of cases which are of non-Kuwaiti women who acquired citizenship through marriage — as well as those who obtained it through descent from a parent or grandparent. Additionally, in many cases, people born and raised in Kuwait to parents or grandparents who had previously been granted citizenship also have no meaningful or effective connection to any other country. A summary overview of the legal changes enacted by the GoK between 1959 and 2024/6, referencing impact, is set out under domestic legislation. This repor t explores the character and conduct of the GoKʼs citizenship stripping campaign. Below, it sets out the legal basis and human impact of the campaign: testimonies speak of signif icant personal and intergenerational suffering and distress; retroactive and arbitrary revocations have rendered thousands stateless or at risk of statelessness, stripping them of identity documents, income, healthcare, education, and freedom of movement. The government ʼs actions appear to violate Kuwait ʼs own Constitution and laws and a swathe of GoK international human rights obligations. 8