Suzan El Tahhan
Bidoons: A Statelessness Plight in Kuwait
مجلة الدراسات القانونية واالقتصادية
same level and that the conditions relating to the quality of the education provided
are also equivalent."78
However, Kuwaiti law still does not protect the right of all children in its
territory to free primary education as it restricts this right to citizen children,
excluding both foreign residents together with Bidoon children.79
Article 6 of the ICESCR recognizes the right to work and prohibits
discriminatory access to employment. The Committee's General Comment 18
explains that the right to work includes "the right of access to a system of protection
guaranteeing each worker access to employment" and "the right not to be unfairly
deprived of employment." In addition, it further specifies that: "States Parties have
immediate obligations in relation to the right to work, such as the obligation to
"guarantee" that it will be exercised "without discrimination of any kind".80
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in General
Comment 14 expanding on the right to health, requires governments to consider
affordability when regulating payment for health care, stating: Health facilities,
goods plus services must be affordable for all. Payment for healthcare services must
be based on the principle of equity, ensuring that these services, whether privately
or publicly provided, are affordable for all, including socially disadvantaged
groups.81
Moreover, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, charged
with interpreting the Convention, has called upon State Parties "to respect the right
78
Human Rights Watch, Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti Bidoons and the Burden of Statelessness, 13 June 2011,
P.34, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4df7191b2.html [accessed 23 December 2015].
79
Ibid P.32
80
UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966,
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 993, p. 3, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36c0.html [accessed
1 February 2019]
81
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 14: The Right to the
Highest Attainable Standard of Health (Art. 12 of the Covenant), 11 August 2000, E/C.12/2000/4, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/4538838d0.html [accessed 1 February 2019]
33