Picture this: a group of people are not allowed to live in their own country. For decades, they have faced persecution simply for who they are. Any attempts to gain their basic rights have failed in the face of government indifference. They have been forced to leave and live in remote, crowded settlements with few prospects for a better life. The chance of deportation or forced removal constantly lurks.

“Surprise, these are not the Palestinians”

Surprise, these are not the Palestinians. They are a minority group that has been hidden behind the glorious skyscrapers and magnificent wealth of its country’s people. A country that shares close ties with the United States, despite its outright violation of human rights and blatant discrimination. These are the Bidoons of Kuwait.

In 1959, the Kuwaiti government issued the Nationality Law to officially register Kuwaiti citizens who resided within its borders. For various reasons, some people, especially the nomadic communities living outside the capital city of Kuwait, were unable to register. These nomadic people were referred to as ‘Bedouins’; they were mostly illiterate and they roamed the surrounding deserts, raising livestock. Unable to communicate with government officials spreading the message of citizenship, Bedouins were consequently unaware of the new law, nor of its future and dramatic implications. Over time, they became the forgotten people: unregistered, unrecognised, and unwelcomed. Today, as the Arab name suggests, they are ‘Bidoon’, which translates to ‘without’ documentation.

“…any child that is born to a Bidoon father would automatically be considered stateless”

Desert Bidoons, however, are not alone. Other branches of Bidoons in Kuwait include those from other Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, who gave up their nationality to join the Kuwaiti Armed Forces in the 1960s and 1970s. To avoid the politically sensitive issue of having recruited foreigners for their national army, the Kuwaiti government opted to leave their identity as ‘unknown’. To complicate matters further, Kuwaiti law dictated that any child that is born to a Bidoon father would automatically be considered stateless; a direct violation of international law.

Until 1986, despite being undocumented, the Bidoons shared the same economic and social benefits as any Kuwaiti citizen. It was only after the Iran-Iraq war, in which Iraqi refugees rid themselves of their documentation to blend in with the Bidoons that their official status changed to ‘illegal immigrants’. Without official citizenship, the 105,000 unregistered Bidoons in Kuwait found themselves in a precarious situation, unable to obtain birth, marriage and death certificates, identity cards, or driver’s licenses. They are also barred from accessing extensive government services, including public health care, and education. Public-sector employment is virtually impossible, and their status as second-class citizens strips them of legal rights such as access to law courts.

In legal terms, ‘everyone has the right to a nationality under international law’, and at the very least, according to UN special rapporteur on the rights of non-citizens, David Weissbrodt, ‘a person should be eligible for the citizenship of the country with which she or he has the closest link’. As far as international law is applied, Kuwait is in violation of the terms of naturalisation for the Bidoons. Instead, the Kuwaiti government’s template response has so far been categorised by its unwillingness to acknowledge the issue of statelessness, and by its reluctance to extend its generous government benefits to non-Kuwaitis.

In the last decade, the lack of Kuwaiti attention to the plight of the Bidoons has triggered a flurry of protests, which have usually been dealt with brutal resistance. To nip the problem in the bud, the Kuwaiti government passed a law restricting non-Kuwaitis from participating in ‘public gatherings’. In turn, many Bidoon activists face being arrested, imprisoned, and deported, ultimately discouraging any acknowledgment of the infringement of their human rights.

Under these infringing circumstances, thousands of Bidoons have escaped from their homeland in order to lead a normal life in another country. Estimates of Bidoons in the UK range from 5,000 to 10,000; the majority having arrived with illegal passports and having claimed refugee status upon landing. In many cases, one member of the family has claimed asylum in the UK, with the ultimate aim of sponsoring the rest of their family to join them under the UK Visa process of ‘Family Reunification’. Such procedures are, however, exponentially tedious and prolonged, as Bidoons lack official documentation. This is where the only Bidoon organisation in the United Kingdom, the Kuwaiti Community Association (KCA), comes into play.

The KCA, based in Harrow, West London, is led by Bidoon Nasser Al Anezya, and seeks to provide advice and support to the thousands of Bidoons in the United Kingdom. The association also focuses on issues of Family Reunification, specifically for refugees whose families have been stranded in the Middle East following the Syria Crisis. Recognising that only certain UK embassies in the Middle East offer such services, many Bidoons travelled to Syria in the early 2000s to begin the reunification process. Since the eruption of the internal political problems in Syria, the Bidoons have been forced to flee, once again, to neighbouring Jordan. Once in Jordan, however, they are unable to claim refugee status due to their lack of documentation. According to the KCA, there are over 57 families, approximately 400 people, involved in this catch-22 situation.

For Ali Al-Tamimi, a UK-based Bidoon refugee, the process of reuniting with his family has taken over three years, and remains unresolved. His wife and three children are registered as stateless asylum seekers, and are currently living in Amman, Jordan, with the support of family members. The recognition of their refugee status has been arduous due to the high volume of refugee cases in Jordan combined with the unique circumstances of the Bidoons. To complicate and prolong the situation further, UK embassies have reported ‘significant levels of abuse from other groups of refugees posing as Kuwaiti Bidoons.

The story of the Bidoons is one that has endured for decades and has no sign of a resolution in the near future. With no government support and little media representation, their story, despite the clear violation of human rights, is one that is generally unknown and over-shadowed by groups that gain more media attention such as Palestinian, Iraqi, Afghan and Syrian refugees fleeing to Europe.

In addition, Kuwait’s systematic discrimination against its stateless population has unacceptably never been condemned by any government or human rights tribunals. This matter is given little attention in the United Nations and in other international organisations; Human Rights Watch has published a mere three reports on the case of the Bidoons. Being the main actors (other than Kuwait) in this situation, the KCA contends that human rights organisations must take charge in bringing to light the contravention of human rights of the Bidoons and rally for Kuwaiti government reforms.

“They are truly a people with no country”

The perplexity surrounding the Bidoons’ statelessness is not only infringing their ability to obtain their inherent rights in their home of Kuwait, but it is equally impacting their ability to receive a refugee status in other countries. They are truly a people with no country. International pressure must be put on governments, like Kuwait, for blatantly violating human rights, especially in the Middle East where oil money and large purchasing power is too often used to bypass accusations and penalties. The question remains as to how many more people must be stripped of their basic human rights before those in charge are held to account?

To sign the petition to help those like Ali Al Tamimi reunite with their families, click here

Adèle Bélanger-McMurdo is a second year BSc International Relations student. Her areas of interest are Middle Eastern politics and history.