S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E
Exemplifying the character of the campaign, on 12 November 2024, the Kuwaiti media
outlet, Kuwait Moments, published an article entitled “Kuwait to Revoke Citizenship of
930 in Record Action”. 76 It celebrated the ʻ“new” record, the revocation of 930 citizenships
in a single day, with 1617 “in just 20 days”. It added: “Fahd al-Yousef, Kuwait's acting prime
minister and minister of defense and interior, who heads the committee, called the decision a
ʻtruly large numberʼ and emphasized the importance of rectifying past wrongdoings.” Fahd
al-Yousef reportedly stated that “the committee is committed to protecting Kuwaitʼs identity,
[describing] the ongoing actions as addressing one of the biggest crimes against the country,
which must be stopped.” To prove his point, he cited “two Syrian brothers who fraudulently
obtained Kuwaiti nationality” and that “In total, about 132 other individuals acquired
citizenship illegally, often through fraudulent methods.” The article stated that “Kuwaitʼs
aggressive stance on citizenship integrity is intended to safeguard national identity and prevent
fraud. With new policies in place, the government is sending a clear message that violations wonʼt
be tolerated, and individuals found guilty will face consequences.”
Despite being underway since March 2024, the GoK only established an appeals
procedure from May 2025., Moreover, the article noted that “The committee will also
establish a process for receiving grievances from those affected by the decisions.”
On 14 November 2024, a report in the Kuwait Times related a case in which “[...] The
criminal court on Thursday heard a case of a Kuwaiti citizen who added a Syrian boy to his
nationality file claiming the boy was his son. The man confessed in court that the boy was a
Syrian citizen and a close relative of his wife, adding that he brought the boy to Kuwait in early
1990s when he was just two months old.” 77 The scope of such cases is significant but the
processes for protecting impacted children appear, even at the time of writing, weak or
opaque. On 2 June 2025, Gulf Center for Human Rights reported that approximately 681 of
those stripped of their nationality - including dependents - had obtained it by state
recognition under Article 1 of the 1959 Nationality Law, for acts deemed by the
government of the day as meritorious or beneficial to the state, or noble deeds. 78
33
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents