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FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
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INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 000558 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KISL KU BIDOON
SUBJECT: KUWAIT'S STATELESS BIDOON:  BACKGROUND AND RECENT 
PROMISING DEVELOPMENTS 
 
REF: A. 2006 KUWAIT 4514 
     ¶B. 2006 KUWAIT 3078 
     ¶C. KUWAIT 0053 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and 
 d 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. For the past twenty years, Kuwait's 100,000 
stateless Bidoon residents have been denied access to the 
free healthcare, education, and other welfare-state benefits 
enjoyed by Kuwaiti citizens.  Demonstrating a growing social 
awareness of the plight of the Bidoon and a sensitivity to 
the wishes of "tribal" voters, the GOK recently issued a 
resolution to allow free healthcare for Bidoon who are 
handicapped or younger than eighteen.  In addition, Kuwaiti 
courts recently established a precedent which makes it easier 
for the Bidoon to obtain marriage and birth certificates. 
Despite these assurances, the Bidoon issue is unlikely to be 
fully resolved anytime soon through an expansion of 
citizenship because many Kuwaiti citizens remain vehemently 
opposed to increasing the rolls of those eligible for the 
full benefits of the welfare state. The issue remains one of 
Kuwait's most difficult and sensitive human rights issues. 
End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
The Origins of Kuwait's Stateless Arabs (Bidoon) 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Bidoon are people living in Kuwait who assert 
rights to Kuwaiti citizenship and who deny that they have a 
right to citizenship in any other country. The term "Bidoon" 
means "without" in Arabic, because these people are without 
citizenship. (Note:  There is no connection with the Arabic 
term "bedouin," although some Bidoon are members of bedouin 
tribes that maintained a nomadic lifestyle in the pre-oil 
era. End note.) There are approximately 100,000 Bidoon in 
Kuwait (as compared to 1.1 million Kuwaiti citizens and two 
million expatriate residents). The Bidoon are the highest 
profile human rights issue for Kuwaiti politicians and NGOs, 
though international human rights observers tend to focus 
more attention on the plight of Kuwait's large population of 
foreign workers (see Ref A). 
 
¶3. (SBU) When Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 
1961, the GOK carried out a campaign to register those who 
would become citizens in the new state. In the rush to 
identify legitimate citizens, however, the GOK missed 
significant numbers because many living in Kuwait were rural 
bedouins who either did not learn of the registration 
requirements or did not understand their importance. 
Furthermore, in the period before national boundaries were 
delineated in the 1920s, and on a more limited scale up to 
the 1960s, nomadic bedouins traveled freely in the area that 
is now Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and did not have 
permanent homes. As a result, the same family today will 
sometimes have members who received Kuwaiti citizenship and 
members who did not. Despite the historical evidence of this 
phenomenon, many GOK defenders and Bidoon opponents assert 
that only a very small number, if any, were actually missed 
by naturalization efforts and that, instead, most Bidoon are 
simply economic migrants from Syria, Jordan, and other Arab 
states who have concealed their origins in an effort to 
obtain the benefits of the generous Kuwaiti welfare state. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Bidoon Problems Begin 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Until the mid-1980s, the GOK treated Bidoon as 
lawful residents of Kuwait whose claims to citizenship were 
under consideration, a status that distinguished them not 
only from other foreign residents but also from other groups 
of stateless residents, such as Palestinians from Gaza. At 
that time, the number of Bidoon was included in the total 
number of Kuwaiti citizens in the Ministry of Planning's 
Annual Statistical Abstract, and Bidoon were issued documents 
identifying them as Bidoon. With the exception of voting 
rights, they received the benefits of full citizens, 
including subsidized housing, education, and health services. 
Bidoon made up the vast majority of the rank and file of all 
branches of the police and military, and were eligible for 
temporary passports under article 17 of Kuwait's Passport Law 
11/1962. Intermarriage among Bidoon and Kuwaiti citizens was 
and remains common, and because of the vagaries of the 
implementation of the Nationality Law it is not unusual for a 
single family to have members with different citizenship 
status: original citizenship, citizenship by naturalization, 
and Bidoon. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In 1985, the government began applying provisions of 
 
KUWAIT 00000558  002 OF 004 
 
 
the Alien Residence Law 17/1959 to the Bidoon and issued a 
series of regulations stripping the Bidoon of almost all 
their previous rights and benefits. It is unclear why the 
government changed its policies so radically, but the sharp 
1984/1985 drop in oil prices probably made the GOK more 
concerned about the number of new citizens eligible for 
government benefits. More restrictions followed: 
 
-- In 1986, the government severely restricted Bidoons' 
eligibility for travel documents. It also fired government 
employees not employed by the army or the police who could 
not produce valid passports, whether issued by Kuwait or 
another country, and instructed private employers to do the 
same. 
 
-- In 1987, the government began refusing to issue Bidoon new 
or renewed driver's licenses or register their cars, and 
began terminating free public education for Bidoon children 
and instructing private schools to require valid residency 
permits. 
 
-- In 1988, the ban on free public education was extended to 
universities, and Kuwaiti clubs and civic associations were 
instructed to dismiss their Bidoon members. 
 
-- Also beginning in 1988, statistical data on Bidoon in the 
government's Annual Statistical Abstract was transferred from 
the Kuwaiti category to alien population categories. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Restrictions on the Bidoon escalated in the 
aftermath of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. In September 
1990, the Iraqi occupation authorities ordered, under the 
penalty of death, all noncitizen residents of Kuwait to join 
the Popular Army, a militia that was formed to support the 
Iraqi army. Failure to provide evidence of registration with 
the militia became grounds for immediate imprisonment. 
Seizing on the fact that a few individual Bidoon joined the 
Popular Army -- and blaming the Bidoon for the Kuwaiti army's 
failure to stop the Iraqi invasion, since the Bidoon 
constituted the overwhelming majority of the armed forces 
rank and file -- many Kuwaitis came to view all Bidoon as 
collaborators. Anti-Bidoon policies escalated: 
 
-- Bidoon who fled to Iraq found themselves stranded there 
when the GOK refused to allow the reentry of all but a few. 
 
-- Bidoon government employees were dismissed en masse and 
only a small portion were later rehired. 
 
-- Beginning in 1993, Bidoon were also required to pay fees 
to utilize healthcare centers, although those services 
remained free for Kuwaiti citizens. 
 
-- Bidoon not employed by the government found themselves 
facing serious obstacles when seeking to register births, 
marriages, divorces, and deaths. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Current situation:  Idle hands do the Peninsula Lion's work 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶7. (C) The lack of identification documents makes it nearly 
impossible for Bidoon today to find new employment.  To 
survive, most Bidoon rely on savings and charities. Some work 
informally, driving water trucks or taxis. Others have turned 
to street vending, but this activity is illegal and exposes 
them to arrest and fines. With so few options to make a 
living legally, some of the disenfranchised, undereducated, 
and underemployed single young men who make up the majority 
of the Bidoon community have turned to crime and some have 
been susceptible to terrorist recruitment (see Ref B). 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Recent developments:  Healthcare & education 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Kuwaiti government policies also limit Bidoon 
children's access to healthcare and education.  Unlike 
Kuwaiti citizens, since 1993 Bidoon have been required to pay 
for access to government health clinics.  However, on May 21, 
the Ministry of Health passed a resolution allowing free 
access to government health clinics for all Bidoon children 
with a Kuwaiti mother (with free access to end once the child 
turns eighteen).  This resolution also allows free health 
clinic access for life for all Bidoon deemed handicapped by 
the Ministry of Health.  And in 2005, the GOK began funding 
private primary and secondary education for Bidoon children. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Recent developments:  Marriage and birth certificates 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
KUWAIT 00000558  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Bidoon face difficulty certifying marriages -- 
including in marriages between a Bidoon and a Kuwaiti -- 
because the Bidoon member of the couple lacks a civil ID and 
must obtain a letter from the Ministry of Interior and 
complete a lengthy security check. Obtaining birth 
certificates is also difficult for Bidoon couples. If a 
Bidoon has a child, the hospital will ask for the nationality 
of the parents. Since they have no nationality, they need to 
get a "to whom it may concern" letter from the Executive 
Committee for Illegal Residents (ECIR) instructing the 
Ministry of Health that it can issue a birth certificate that 
does not indicate the nationality of the parents. According 
to the NGO Human Rights Watch, the ECIR rarely issues such 
letters. 
 
¶10. (SBU) However, on March 25, Kuwait's Court of First 
Instance passed an unprecedented decision to issue a marriage 
certificate to a Bidoon woman married to a Kuwaiti citizen. 
Based on this precedent, on April 5 and again on May 26, the 
Kuwait Court of First Instance affirmed a Bidoon man's rights 
to receive a marriage certificate and birth certificates for 
his children. These rulings forced the Justice and Health 
ministries to recognize these certificates. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Recent developments:  Resettlement 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶11. (C) In 1993, the GOK demolished the district of Umm 
al-Haiman (southwest of Kuwait City) and forced its largely 
Bidoon inhabitants to relocate to the more remote Sulabiya 
and Taima districts. Musaed Al-Shimmary, a member of the 
Kuwaiti Bidoon Society who is himself a Bidoon, speculated to 
PolOff that in the next few years the GOK will expropriate 
the Sulaibiya and Taima districts to build new housing 
developments and force its current 70,000 Bidoon residents to 
relocate again to substandard housing in an even more remote 
area. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Bidoon Proponents and Opponents 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶12. (C) Kuwait's Al Sabah ruling family has traditionally 
shared the country's oil largess generously with the urban 
business families. However, the impact of rural, tribal 
Kuwaitis is now growing rapidly both in terms of population 
and representation in the National Assembly as these groups 
seek a proportional share of political leverage in Kuwait. 
These rural Kuwaitis present a challenge to the urbanites and 
-- through their presence in parliament -- to the present 
composition of the GOK (see Ref C).  Most Bidoon live in 
rural areas and granting the 100,000 Bidoon Kuwaiti 
citizenship and voting rights would accelerate this trend. 
Rural Kuwaitis are much more inclined to support Bidoon 
citizenship than are urban Kuwaitis. 
 
¶13. (C) Proponents of granting citizenship to the Bidoon 
include: 
-- Tribal and Islamist MPs.  Tribes dominate Kuwait's rural, 
conservative constituencies and would benefit from having 
100,000 more supporters, especially if districts were redrawn. 
 
-- Shi'a MPs.  Shi'a MPs believe that as many as 50% of the 
Bidoon are Shi'a (Shi'a make up about 30% of Kuwait's 
citizenship). 
 
-- Kuwaitis with Bidoon family members or friends. 
 
-- Social activists and Bidoon-rights NGOs 
 
 
¶14. (C) Opponents include: 
 
-- Urban business families and urban leftists.  These two 
groups believe they stand to lose the most by an increase in 
rural/tribal influence.  Some urban business families feel 
they have been overwhelmed by the granting of citizenship to 
bedouins who aren't "really" Kuwaiti.  Similarly, some urban 
leftists believe the GOK granted citizenship to bedouins 
during a 1960s and 1970s naturalization push in order to 
dilute the opposition in the National Assembly.  These urban 
Kuwaitis see the push to grant citizenship to thousands of 
Bidoon bedouins as a continuation of these earlier policies 
and a further threat to their influence. 
 
 
---------- 
Comment 
---------- 
 
KUWAIT 00000558  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶15. (C) The new healthcare access and court precedents 
regarding marriage and birth certificates represent small but 
significant victories for the Bidoon.  However, the Bidoon 
issue remains highly controversial and contentious. 
Moreover, further progress in 2009 may be stymied by Kuwait's 
current economic crisis and long-standing political malaise, 
both of which render Kuwaitis leery about expanding too 
dramatically the pool of persons eligible for economic 
benefits or political rights.  In addition, the composition 
of the parliament elected May 16 -- which somewhat weakened 
the influence of tribalists and Islamists -- suggests this 
parliament may have a correspondingly weakened interest in 
advancing the status of the Bidoon.  End comment. 
 
********************************************* ********* 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: 
 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it 
********************************************* ********* 
JONES