DESK REVIEW ON POPULATIONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS 1. “any person who has rendered valuable services to Kuwait;” and 2. “any person [upon his attaining his majority who was]134 born to a Kuwaiti mother and who has maintained his residence [in Kuwait] until reaching the age of majority and whose foreign father has irrevocably divorced his mother or has died;”135 …among other limited categories of persons. A naturalized citizen does not have the same rights as a natural-born citizen. For example, a person who has acquired nationality by naturalization, shall not have the right of voting within 30 years following the date of naturalization, nor shall they have the right to stand as a candidate for or be appointed to membership of any Parliamentary body. Under Article 7 of the Nationality Law, a foreign wife of a naturalized Kuwaiti, does not automatically acquire Kuwaiti nationality unless she declares her wish to do so one year after her husband’s naturalization. The minor children of the naturalized citizen do become Kuwaiti nationals but will have the choice of whether to retain nationality within a year after attaining the age of majority. Moreover, under Article 8, the foreign woman may only be granted nationality by Decree upon the recommendation of the Minister of the interior, provided that she declares her wish to acquire nationality, and that the marriage has lasted for at least 15 years from the date of her declared wish to acquire nationality. According to the 2019 UNHCR Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness, “[the Parliament of Kuwait is] currently examining proposals to review their… nationality laws and consider reforms that would allow women to confer citizenship on their children at birth.”136 However, as of the time of conducting this research, no such reforms have taken place.137 B.2.c. Children of Philippine Descent Based on the initial interview with Social Welfare Attachés, in 2020 alone there were 102 children repatriated to the Philippines when the parents availed themselves of the amnesty program. There were also cases of mothers who were ineligible for amnesty or repatriation for their children because the mothers had travel bans issued against them. Travel bans are issued in Kuwait for 134 This is the exact wording of the text, from an “unofficial translation,” including the brackets. 135 Nationality Law, 1959, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4ef1c.html. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness 2019, 8 March 2019, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5c8120847.html. 136 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness 2020, 14 July 2020, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5f0d7b934.html. 137 44 UNHCR / April 2021