Suzan El Tahhan Bidoons: A Statelessness Plight in Kuwait ‫مجلة الدراسات القانونية واالقتصادية‬ purposes or to Bidoons serving in the army and police. Authorities started to ask that all government employees provide proof of Kuwaiti or foreign citizenship, otherwise they lose their jobs. In 1987 the Interior Ministry only issued and renewed drivers' licenses to Bidoons in police or military service. At the same time, authorities seized allowing Bidoons to register car ownership in their names.21 Hence, the Kuwaiti government dismissed Bidoons from their jobs (historically in the military or police forces), barred children from public schools, and revoked driving licenses. They must leave the country in order to carry passports (known as Article 17 passports) and renounce the right to return.22 On the other hand, the Kuwaiti Government expects Bidoons to officially register as Bidtor to obtain a security card. This card is used to circumvent labeling individuals as "illegal residents" by preventing detention or deportation. However, Bidoons must renew the cards either yearly or every two years, which is at the absolute discretion of the governing body of all Bidoons matters, the Central System to Resolve Illegal Residents' Status ("the Bidoons committee"), which was set up in 2010.23 It is clear how powerful politics can be to the extent that it outweighs a country's legal obligations and changes an entire nation's culture. There is no doubt that the Kuwaiti government's fears of changes in its demography along with the security claims gave justification to the widespread deteriorating status of Bidoons. The government policy has built up a discriminatory scheme against Bidoons that most people followed in Kuwait. Bidoons are regarded as lower creatures whom Kuwaitis 21 Ibid, Page 2 United Kingdom: Home Office, Operational Guidance Note: Kuwait, 5 March 2009, P.48, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/49c35db62.html [accessed 23 December 2015] 23 Dana Affleck, BEING “WITHOUT” – WHO ARE THE BIDOONS OF KUWAIT?, July 9, 2012, available at:http://rightnow.org.au/topics/asylum-seekers/being-“without”-–-who-are-the-Bidoons-of-kuwait/[accessed 23 December 2015]. 22 11