faced sexual harassment from government officials while applying for documentation, and that Bidoon women cannot claim their legally enshrined rights upon divorce since their marriages remain unregistered by the authorities.75 Moreover, members of the Bidoon population are considered as “illegal third country nationals”, and are exposed to arbitrary arrest and detention for extradition purposes.76 There have been reports of Bidoon human rights defenders, such as Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, being harassed and arbitrarily detained in connection with their advocacy activities.77 In 2019, MENA Rights Group received numerous allegations of judicial harassment and the arbitrary arrest and detention of Bidoon activists by the authorities in Kuwait. Also according to Amnesty International there has been a recent crackdown by the authorities. On 17 July 2019, it reported that there has been a recent rise in the amount of arrests of human rights defenders. At the same time, the amount of suicides among the Bidoon has gone up as a result.78 In 2017, the Committee on the CERD called on Kuwait to “investigate allegations of excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, deterrence of lawful protests, ill-treatment and torture of human rights defenders, including stateless individuals”.79 The CERD also made broader recommendations in relation to the Bidoon, calling on Kuwait to find a durable solution to the problems faced by the population, including by (a) considering naturalising those who have lived in Kuwait for long periods and have a genuine and effective link to the State; (b) putting into place immediate administrative procedures to allow all Bidoon to obtain official documents, including birth registration documents; (c) providing residence permits and temporary legal status to all non-citizens as appropriate; (d) guaranteeing access for all to adequate social services and education on an equal footing with nationals of Kuwait; (e) ensuring that applications for Kuwaiti nationality are assessed through written, reasoned decisions that may be appealed; and (f) acceding to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.80 Furthermore, the CEDAW recommended in 2017 that Kuwait accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction for 75 Ibidem. Home Office, Country Information and Guidance Kuwait: Bidoons, July 2016, https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5853da784.pdf (accessed 9 July 2019). 77 On 18 April 2016, prominent Kuwaiti human rights defender Mr Abdulhakim Al Fadhli was arrested by Kuwaiti authorities while participating in a peaceful gathering, in solidarity with imprisoned prodemocracy activist Musallam Al Barrak. He was released from the Central Prison in Kuwait on 1 August 2017. For more information, see: Front Line Defenders, Detention of Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/detention-abdulhakim-al-fadhli#case-update-id-6344 (accessed 10 July 2019). 78 Amnesty International, Kuwait: Authorities crackdown on protesters demanding citizenship rights, 17 July 2019. Accessible at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/07/kuwait-authorities-crackdown-onprotesters-demanding-citizenship-rights/. 79 CERD, Concluding observations on the combined twenty-first to twenty-fourth periodic reports of Kuwait, CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, 19 September 2017, para. 30. 80 Ibid, para 28. 76 17 UPR KUWAIT