4 • International Journal of Refugee Law, 2026, Vol. 00, Issue 00 Rodríguez (n 17). Federal Law No. 17, art 2, cited in Lori (n 8) 91. 21 ibid 204. 22 ‘Bidoons in the United Arab Emirates: Deprived of Life and Death’ (Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties 2019) 2. 23 Lori (n 8) 94. 24 Anna Zacharias, ‘Special Report: Ten Years On, the UAE’s Stateless People Reflect on How Life Has Improved and on the Challenges Ahead’ The National News (6 September 2018) <https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/special-report-ten-years-on-the-uae-s-stateless-people-reflect-on-how-life-has-improvedand-on-the-challenges-ahead-1.767367> accessed 5 March 2024. 25 Lori (n 8) 204. 26 ibid. 27 ibid; see also Zacharias (n 24). 28 1959 Nationality Law, art 1 (emphasis added). 29 1959 Nationality Law, art 2. 30 The specified conditions relate to employment, qualifications, good character, language, and religion: 1959 Nationality Law, art 4. 31 Farah Al-Nakib, ‘Revisiting Ḥaḍar and Badū in Kuwait: Citizenship, Housing, and the Construction of a Dichotomy’ (2014) 46 International Journal of Middle East Studies 5, 12. 32 ‘Kuwait Promises Betrayed: Denial of Rights of Bidun, Women, and Freedom of Expression’ (Human Rights Watch, October 2000) <https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/kuwait/kuwait-04.htm#P185_27694> accessed 3 October 2023. 19 20 Downloaded from academic.oup.com/ijrl/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ijrl/eeag028/8767365 by guest on 08 October 2026 in 1925—the year that oil was discovered in the region19—or earlier.20 This lineage was demonstrated through possession of a document known as a ‘family book’.21 Despite the fact that many of the bidun of the UAE have an ancestral connection to the territory pre-dating 1925,22 the nomadic pastoral lifestyle of their ancestors meant the bidun population lacked documentary proof of their residence in the form of the family book. The 1972 nationality law left between 100,000 and 200,000 people in the UAE with an unclear legal status.23 Notwithstanding this uncertainty, until the mid-2000s the bidun of the UAE were still able to enjoy some of the same benefits as nationals, including accessing public healthcare and attending public schools.24 Their situation changed in 2006 with the introduction of a national biometric identity document (ID), which linked access to public services to possession of the ID.25 To qualify for the national ID, applicants were required to produce the ‘family book’;26 those unable to do so, including the bidun population, were subsequently prevented from accessing public services, such as public healthcare and public education, but also birth registration, driver licences, marriage licences, and access to the courts.27 Like the UAE, Kuwait adopts a narrow approach to defining its nationals; the 1959 nationality law defines ‘original’ Kuwaiti nationals as ‘those persons who were settled in Kuwait prior to 1920’ and who resided in Kuwait until the enactment of the nationality law.28 This law also provides that nationality in Kuwait is passed down from these ‘original’ nationals through patrilineal descent,29 adding the possibility for naturalization by decree upon satisfying a period of residence in the country and meeting other specified conditions.30 The effect of this nationality law was to consolidate a distinction between, on the one hand, the ‘settled’ urban population who were able to produce documentation, such as birth certificates and land deeds, attesting to their settlement in the country prior to 1920; and on the other hand, the nomadic population at that time and their descendants who lacked access to such documents.31 Prior to 1985, Kuwait treated the bidun as lawful residents in the country.32 In this year, following a decrease in the country’s revenue due to the falling price of oil, the Government