ChaChapter 1: Nationality and Statelessness Self-identification is also an important concept. Stateless populations across the region often to do not identify as stateless and do not sympathize with the term that they have been assigned. According to research carried out by Marie-Luhd18 for instance, the term ‘Bidoon’ created problems for the community themselves. Many of those stateless in Kuwait “avoided coming out as Bidoon” as this meant “being treated as less than human, or worthless or cheap” and “they themselves considered ‘Bidoon’ as a stigma”, which then rendered it more complicated for the effected population to create a rights based movement based on this demeaning identity.19 Moreover, since there were different reasons for Bidoon to be left out of citizenship, “the heterogeneity that characterizes the Bidoon community had implications for their ability to organize and mobilise20. This suggests that the term bidoon assigned to this population has added another dimension to the divisions that already englufed this community. As an alternative many suggested the term “Kuwaiti Bidoon” to be used both locally in Kuwait and internationally, because they wanted to emphasise their connection and belonging to the State of Kuwait. This emphasizes the point that the stateless often make that the failure 18 - Lund-Johansen.Marie, Fighting for Citizenship in Kuwait, 2014, access at https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/43302 19 - Ibid p.40 20 - Ibid p.40 23