Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Kuwait SUMMARY OF MAIN ISSUES • The Kuwaiti Nationality Law contains various gaps and flaws that could either lead to statelessness or prolong it. It discriminates against women in their ability to transfer their nationality to their children and imposes religious restrictions for naturalisation. • Kuwait has engaged in the withdrawal of nationality including as a response to civil society activity in the wake of the Arab Spring with deprivation also extended to the individuals’ children. This withdrawal of nationality can directly lead to statelessness as Kuwaitis are only permitted one nationality. • Kuwait has historically been home to a large stateless population of people known as the Bidoon – a literal translation of the Arabic word for ‘without’. The Bidoon missed out on nationality following state formation. They are deemed to be illegal residents and face severe restrictions of their rights, including in access to education, healthcare and employment. The Bidoon live in relative poverty and social segregation. • Many Bidoon have been unable to access any form of documentation, making their status in the country even more precarious and increasing the risk of arbitrary arrest or detention. The situation of undocumented Bidoon has been considered so severe as to amount to persecution, although those Bidoon who do have documentation (such as the ‘security document’) also face severe restrictions of rights. • Kuwait has no measures in place to ensure the child’s right to a nationality or to prevent the inheritance of statelessness. As a result, any child born to a stateless Bidoon father automatically inherits statelessness, regardless of whether they are born in Kuwait or if the mother is a Kuwaiti national. Kuwaiti legislation discriminates against women preventing them from passing on their nationality to their children. • In addition to the Bidoon, Palestinians make up a considerable proportion of the stateless population in Kuwait. The flaws in the Kuwaiti Nationality Law, and the withdrawal of nationality, result in the creation of other stateless groups. • Even though there have been promises made by the Kuwaiti Government to solve the statelessness problem in the country, there has been little to no improvement of the situation on the ground. Instead, in reaction to protests that Bidoon have participated in over recent years, there has been a rise in harassment, arrests, detention and other extra-legal attempts to curtail public and civil society efforts to advocate for the position of the Bidoon. 3