S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E
Kuwait’s persistent disregard - defiance? for international human rights appeals,
recommendations and warnings
16
States made recommendations
on citizenship in the May 2025
UPR. All were “noted”, not
accepted.
In the May 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR),
representatives of 16 states made recommendations to
Kuwait relating to its laws and practices of citizenship,
including the unfolding citizenship stripping campaign – all
of which were “noted” by Kuwait, signalling that it does not
commit to implementing it. 25 The recommendations included
the following (for the full set of recommendations, see
Appendix 5 - Recommendations under the Theme: Rights
related to name, identity and nationality, from the 4th Cycle
of the UPR):
•
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nor thern Ireland - Implement policies to
ensure that “Ar ticle 8” women whose Kuwaiti nationality has been revoked
continue to receive access, without discrimination, to employment, justice,
and social services (discussed below); 26
•
Kingdom of the Netherlands - Ensure that decisions on the revocation of
citizenship are subject to transparent legal procedures and judicial oversight,
especially for human rights defenders; 27
•
Australia - Fully implement obligations under international law to prevent
statelessness, with reference to the revocation of Kuwaiti nationality, and
resolving the ongoing legal status of the Bidoon; 28
•
Czechia - Improve the status of the stateless population (so-called Bidoons) and
refrain from creating new stateless persons as par t of the wave of citizenship
revocations. 29
•
Germany - Create a more transparent process through which stateless people
can appeal against loss of citizenship, and mitigate the adverse effects of
statelessness on freedom of movement, par ticularly for women; 30 and
•
Spain - Ensure legal security and safeguard the rights of those who may have
been harmed by the withdrawal of nationality, in line with current
international conventions. 31
17
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