Nationality and Cases of Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa Furthermore, governments have regularly adopted their own language for referring to these communities, which is distinct again from the set of terminology presented above. For example, in keeping with the authorities’ rhetoric that the stateless people (Bidoon) in Kuwait are actually foreigners, hiding their nationality in a bid to access Kuwait’s generous welfare system, they are described as “illegal residents” – for instance, in the title of the governmental committee established to study their situation and in any official statements with regard to this stateless population. In Syria, avoiding the language of statelessness, the government introduced two categories for those affected: maktoumeen, as explained above, and ajanib. The latter translates to “foreigner” in English. The use of such terminology is problematic in that it serves to further disenfranchise the stateless because it serves to obscure or even refute the true situation (i.e. statelessness) of those concerned, making it more difficult for them to assert their rights and need for protection as people who have been denied nationality.17 17 - See, for instance, the news story that came to light in July 2013 around a leaked document from the Kuwaiti “Central Agency for Illegal Residents” which reportedly explained that the authorities were deliberately avoiding the use of the word stateless as follows: “The term stateless will obligate Kuwait to grant rights to those illegal residents according to international agreements. Those are people hiding their original documents to get the Kuwaiti citizenship”. Bedoon Rights, Leaked document: head of Central Agency fears the term “stateless”, 24 July 2013, available at: http://www.bedoonrights.org/2013/07/24/leakeddocument-head-of-central-agency-fears-the-term-stateless/. 22