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41-597: Kuwait has the largest number of stateless people in the entire region. Most stateless Bedoon of Kuwait belong to the northern tribes, especially the Al-Muntafiq tribal confederation. The linguist Bruce Ingham studied the northern tribes in Kuwait in the mid 20th century. A minority of stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to the 'Ajam community . Under the terms of the Kuwait Nationality Law 15/1959, all

82-551: A legal pathway to obtaining citizenship. However, as access to citizenship in Kuwait is autocratically controlled by the Al Sabah ruling family it is not subject to any external regulatory supervision. The naturalization provisions within the Nationality Law are arbitrarily implemented and lack transparency. The lack of transparency prevents non-nationals from receiving a fair opportunity to obtain citizenship. Consequently,

123-454: A total estimate, but noting that all stateless individuals in Kuwait remain at risk of persecution and human rights breaches. The Bedoon are generally categorized into three groups: stateless tribespeople, stateless police/military and the stateless children of Kuwaiti women who married Bedoon men. According to the Kuwaiti government, there are only 93,000 "documented" Bedoon in Kuwait. In 2018,

164-496: Is almost impossible to delineate who is, and who is not part of the Muntafiq. The tribe is divided into three main branches: Bani Malik, al-Ajwad, and Bani Sa'id. Most of the tribe traces its genealogy to the tribe of Banu 'Uqayl of the large and ancient Banu 'Amir confederation of Najd . However, the tribe's traditional leaders are Al-Saadun ("the house of Saadun"), who are said to be Sharifs originating from Mecca , while

205-578: Is estimated that 60-80% of Kuwait's Bedoon are Shia Muslims as a result, it is widely believed that the Bedoon issue in Kuwait is sectarian in nature. The Kuwaiti authorities permit the forgery of hundreds of thousands of politically motivated naturalizations whilst simultaneously denying citizenship to the Bedoon. The politically motivated naturalizations were noted by the United Nations , political activists, scholars, researchers and even members of

246-765: Is much simpler in Iraq than in Kuwait owing to the presence of judicial court systems of reviewing citizenship. Since August 2017, the UNCHR has been coordinating with Iraqi NGOs to help stateless Bedoon receive Iraqi citizenship. According to Federal Law No 17 of the United Arab Emirates Citizenship and Passport Law of 1972, any Arab who resided in the Trucial States before 1925 is eligible to obtain UAE citizenship . Many stateless people who live in

287-590: Is the most popular destination for Bedoon asylum seekers. According to the Home Office , Kuwait is the eighth largest source of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel on small boats in 2021. Immediately after the 1991 Gulf War many stateless Bedoon from Kuwait migrated to Iraq, most with no recognized nationality or official papers. There are currently tens of thousands of Kuwaiti stateless Bedoon living in Iraq. The process of obtaining citizenship

328-674: Is unknown but it is estimated that up to 400,000 immigrants were unlawfully naturalized in Kuwait. The foreign Bedouin immigrants were mainly naturalized to alter the demographic makeup of the citizen population in a way that made the power of the Al Sabah ruling family more secure. As a result of the politically motivated naturalizations, the number of naturalized citizens exceeds the number of Bedoon in Kuwait. The Al Sabah ruling family actively encouraged foreign Bedouin immigrants to migrate to Kuwait. The Al Sabah ruling family favored naturalizing Bedouin immigrants because they were considered loyal to

369-496: The 1973 Samita border skirmish . In 1990 Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait, precipitating the Gulf War by which Kuwait's sovereignty was restored. In July 1992 the matter of border demarcation was referred to the United Nations , which accurately mapped the boundary and then demarcated it on the ground, following the 1932 line with some small adjustments. The border initially was accepted by Kuwait but not Iraq. Iraq accepted

410-480: The Arab League in support of Kuwait. Following an Iraqi coup in 1963, a treaty of friendship was signed the same year by which Iraq recognised the 1932 border. Despite this, the treaty was never ratified thus remaind unbinding, and was later rejected by the revolutionary command . Over the ensuing decade Iraq often raised the issue of sea access and the traditional claim to Kuwait, most notably in 1973 with

451-804: The Arab Spring . All stateless people in the UAE unable to obtain any passport are offered the Comorian passport , free of charge, through a government initiative for a citizenship by investment deal worth millions of dollars with the government of Comoros and enjoy certain citizenship privileges such as subsidized education and access to government jobs in the UAE. Bedoon in Saudi Arabia are not considered Saudi citizens and therefore have no benefits. Saudi Arabia has revoked citizenship of certain Saudis in

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492-463: The Al Sabah family. It is widely considered a form of deliberate demographic engineering and has been likened to Bahrain 's politically motivated naturalization policy. Within the GCC countries, politically motivated naturalization policies are referred to as "political naturalization" (التجنيس السياسي). A large number of stateless Bedoon regularly immigrate to Europe as asylum seekers. The United Kingdom

533-547: The Al Sabah ruling family have been able to manipulate naturalization for politically motivated reasons. In the three decades after independence in 1961 , the Al Sabah ruling family naturalized hundreds of thousands of foreign Bedouin immigrants predominantly from Saudi Arabia. By 1980, as many as 200,000 immigrants were naturalized in Kuwait. Throughout the 1980s, the Al Sabah's politically motivated naturalization policy continued. The naturalizations were not regulated nor sanctioned by Kuwaiti law . The exact number of naturalizations

574-508: The Bedoon in Kuwait are eligible for Kuwaiti nationality by naturalization . In practice, it is widely believed that Sunnis of Persian descent or tribal Saudis can readily achieve Kuwaiti naturalization whilst Bedoon of Iraqi tribal ancestry cannot. As a result, many Bedoon in Kuwait feel pressured to hide their background or sectarian affiliation. From 1965 until 1985, the Bedoon were treated as Kuwaiti citizens and guaranteed citizenship: they had free access to education, healthcare and all

615-522: The Bedoons. There are more than 300,000 Bedoons—one third of Kuwait's native population. Half of them—150,000—have been driven into refugee camps in the desert across the Iraqi border by the regime and left there to bake and to rot. The other 150,000 are treated not as second-class or even fifth-class citizens, but not as any sort of citizen. They are bereft of all rights. It is a scandal that almost no one in

656-618: The Kuwaiti desert near the Iraqi border with minimal water, insufficient food and no basic shelter, and that they were threatened with death if they returned to their homes in Kuwait City . As a result, many of the stateless Bedoon fled to Iraq, where they remain stateless people even today. The Kuwaiti government also stands accused of attempting to falsify their nationalities in official state documents. There have been reports of forced disappearances and mass graves of Bedoon. The 1995 Human Rights Watch report stated: "The totality of

697-470: The Kuwaiti government claimed that it would naturalize up to 4,000 stateless Bedoon per year but this is considered unlikely. In 2019, the Iranian embassy in Kuwait announced that it offers Iranian citizenship to stateless Bedoon of Iranian ancestry. In recent years, the rate of suicide among Bedoon has risen sharply. The State of Kuwait formally has an official Nationality Law that grants non-nationals

738-704: The Middle East; Kuwait de jure fell under Basra Vilayet administration from 1875 until the end of World War I . At the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Empire controlled what is now Iraq and Britain de facto controlled Kuwait as a protectorate . Britain and the Ottoman Empire theoretically divided their realms of influence via the so-called " Blue " and " Violet lines " in the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 , by which

779-583: The Ottomans from most of the Middle East. As a result of the secret 1916 Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement Britain gained control of the Ottoman Vilayets of Mosul , Baghdad and Basra . After a revolt broke out in Iraq that demanded independence, the three Vilayets became mandatory Iraq in 1921, following a previous policy of centralization by Mamluks and Ottomans . In 1932, the year that Iraq gained independence , Britain confirmed that

820-594: The Ottomans recognised British claims on Kuwait, divided from Ottoman Mesopotamia along the Wadi al-Batin (the so-called 'green line', see map right ). The convention was never ratified therefore remained not binding. Finally, the Ottomans and British emerged as enemies within months of the convention, as the outbreak of World War I diminished any hope left for ratification. During the First World War an Arab Revolt , supported by Britain, succeeded in removing

861-462: The Ottomans' behalf, before being expelled by Banu Khalid . During the Ottoman era, most of the tribe settled into sedentary life and took up agriculture in southern and western Iraq. During the Ottoman era, from the late eighteenth century onwards, al-Muntafiq converted to Shia Islam. The city of Nasiriya in southern Iraq was named after one of the tribe's sheikhs, and the surrounding province

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902-598: The Saudi tripoint on the Wadi al-Batin , and then follows this wadi as it flows north-eastwards. The border then turns east, following a straight line for 32 km (20 mi), before another straight line veers to the south-east for 26 km (16 mi), terminating at the coast by the junction of the Khawr Abd Allah and Khor as Subiyah opposite Hajjam Island. Historically there was no clearly defined boundary in this part of

943-472: The UAE have failed to obtain Emirati passports , either because they have failed to demonstrate that they lived in the region before 1925, their roots cannot be traced back to the UAE region or because they arrived in the region after 1925. Stateless people are generally considered descendants of immigrants of Badia Arabs from Balush or Iranian Baloch ancestry. The UAE also deported some Bedoon people after

984-679: The al-Ajwad branch is said to partially originate from the ancient Arab tribe of Tayy . The Muntafiq tribe was led by Yusuf Beg of the Saadun clan. They were traditional rivals of the Dhufir and of Ibn Saud, although Yusuf sometimes co-operated with Ibn Saud. The tribe migrated to Iraq during the Islamic conquests . In Ottoman times, the tribe held control over the region of Basrah under Ottoman suzerainty. In 1521, they successfully occupied al-Ahsa and al-Qatif (eastern Saudi Arabia today) on

1025-747: The authorities feared the sectarian background of the stateless Bedoon. The Bedoon issue in Kuwait "overlaps with historic sensitivities about Iraqi influence inside Kuwait", with many of those denied Kuwaiti nationality being believed to have originated from Iraq. Since 1986, the Kuwaiti government has refused to grant any form of documentation to the Bedoon, including birth certificates , death certificates , identity cards , marriage certificates , and driving licences . The Bedoon also face many restrictions in employment, travel and education. They are not permitted to educate their children in state schools and universities. In 1995, Human Rights Watch reported that there were 300,000 stateless Bedoon, and this number

1066-422: The border between Iraq and Kuwait would run along the Wadi al-Batin, as well as confirming that Bubiyan and Warbah islands were Kuwaiti territoriality, though the precise positioning of the northern straight line segments near Safwan remained imprecise. Kuwait gained independence in 1961, though Iraq refused to recognise the country claiming it as part of Iraq, which resulted in a show of force by Britain and

1107-461: The border in November 1994. The United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission monitored the border during the period 1991–2003. Relations between the two states have improved since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. In February 2023, Kuwait's foreign minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said Iraq and Kuwait would hold talks aimed at resolving the maritime border dispute between

1148-438: The judiciary to present evidence and plead their case for citizenship. Although non-nationals constitute 70% of Kuwait's total population the Al Sabah ruling family persistently denies citizenship to most non-nationals, including those who fully satisfy the requirements for naturalization as stipulated in the state's official Nationality Law. There is no official national census disclosing sectarian affiliation in Kuwait. However, it

1189-559: The other privileges of citizenship. The stateless Bedoon constituted 80–90% of the Kuwaiti Army in the 1970s and 1980s until the Gulf War . In 1985, at the height of the Iran–Iraq War and following an assassination attempt on Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah , the Bedoon were reclassified as "illegal residents" and denied Kuwaiti citizenship and its accompanying privileges. The Iran-Iraq War threatened Kuwait's internal stability and

1230-499: The past too, which means these people become Bedoon. However some of them have the right to education, free healthcare and access to jobs that are not exclusive to citizens. Most of these Bedoon are displaced from Yemen or Jordan and Syria. There are also stateless people in different provinces in the Islamic Republic of Iran, known as Bedoon-e Shenasnameh, which means without having a birth certificate or ID. The majority of

1271-405: The right to petition the courts to challenge governmental decisions regarding their claims to citizenship and lawful residence in the country violates the universal right to due process of law and equality before the law." British MP George Galloway stated: "Of all the human rights atrocities committed by the ruling family in Kuwait, the worst and the greatest is that against the people known as

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1312-460: The ruling family, unlike the politically active Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian expats in Kuwait. The naturalized citizens were predominantly Sunni Saudi immigrants from southern tribes. Accordingly, none of the stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to the Ajman tribe. The Kuwaiti judicial system's lack of authority to rule on citizenship further complicates the Bedoon crisis, leaving Bedoon no access to

1353-682: The stateless people in Iran are Baloch people living in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan . A small minority of stateless people live in Khuzestan and Kurdistan provinces. Qatar has a number of stateless people living within its borders. Qatar has stripped the citizenship of and imprisoned many of the members of the Al-Ghufran tribe. Like neighboring Qatar, Bahrain also has a number of stateless people, some of whom were dissidents. Al-Muntafiq Al-Muntafiq ( Arabic : المنتفق )

1394-453: The treatment of the Bedoons amounts to a policy of denationalization of native residents, relegating them to an apartheid-like existence in their own country. The Kuwaiti government policy of harassment and intimidation of the Bedoons and of denying them the right to lawful residence, employment, travel and movement, contravene basic principles of human rights. Denial of citizenship to the Bedoons clearly violates international law. Denying Bedoons

1435-573: The tribal bond has weakened and the leadership of the Al Saadun is largely nominal. Many stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to the Muntafiq tribal confederation. Iraq%E2%80%93Kuwait border The Iraq–Kuwait border is 254 km (158 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Saudi Arabia in the west to the Persian Gulf coast in the east. The border starts in the west at

1476-524: The two countries. The Iraq–Kuwait barrier ( Arabic : حدود العراق-الكويت Hudud al-'Irāq-al-Kuwayt ) is a 120-mile (190 km) border fence extending six miles (9.7 km) into Iraq , three miles (4.8 km) into Kuwait , and across the full length of their mutual border from Saudi Arabia to the Persian Gulf . Constructed by authorisation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 689 , its stated purpose

1517-470: The world cares a thing about the plight of 300,000 people, 150,000 of them cast out of the land in which they have lived [when] many have lived in the Kuwaiti area for many centuries." By 2004, the Bedoon accounted for only 40% of the Kuwaiti Army , a major reduction from their presence in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2013, the UK government estimated that there were 110,729 "documented" Bedoon in Kuwait, without giving

1558-415: Was a large Arab tribal confederation of southern Iraq and Kuwait . The confederation's tribes predominantly settled in Iraq's southern provinces and northern Kuwait. The confederation is not homogeneous in terms of sect/religion. Centuries of intermarriage and intermingling created a mix of Sunni and Shia tribes. Therefore, a minority of individual tribes within the confederation is Sunni. Overall, it

1599-686: Was formally repeated by the British government. According to several human rights organizations , the State of Kuwait is committing ethnic cleansing and genocide against the stateless Bedoon. The Kuwaiti Bedoon crisis resembles the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar . In 1995, it was reported in the British parliament that the Al Sabah ruling family had deported 150,000 stateless Bedoon to refugee camps in

1640-485: Was known as "Al-Muntafiq Province" until 1976. Those who were herders of small animals such as sheep and goat , rather than camels , and this made them less mobile and less competent as a fighting force compared to the camel-herding tribes of inner Arabia. Although the tribe's nominal leaders, the Al Saadun, are Sunnis , most of the tribe's members follow the Shi'ite sect of Islam . After many decades of sedentarization,

1681-415: Was to stop a re-invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. The border barrier , made of electrified fencing and concertina wire , is braced by a 15-foot-wide (4.6 m) and 15-foot-deep (4.6 m) trench, complete with a 10-foot-high (3.0 m) dirt berm and guarded by hundreds of soldiers, several patrol boats, and helicopters. Construction of the barrier began in 1991. In January 2004, Kuwait decided to install

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