Kuwait citizenship row a risk for business, too

Vignette from the Gulf and the Kuwaiti approach to citizenship and revocation. Given the large number of expatriate workers, both lower and higher skilled in the region, all states there have restrictive citizenship rights and depend largely on guest workers.

The Canadian government did not cite Kuwait as one of its models for revocation (Canada does, unlike recent UK measures, have an exception for those who would be left stateless):

Nationality has long been a fraught subject in Kuwait, home to an estimated 100,000 stateless individuals. The country’s so-called bidoon from the Arabic word for without, or stateless persons are unable to find legal work or access social services; some find odd jobs on the black market but most live in abject poverty. Many were born in Kuwait and claim that their parents – bedouins or members of other nomadic communities – were not able or aware that they needed to register to obtain citizenship when Kuwait became independent. While the government admits some of these residents deserve citizenship, it says others have arrived from third countries in hopes of accessing the country’s generous welfare system.

The creation of a new stateless class could complicate things further. None of the individuals who have lost their passports so far have other nationalities, meaning they have effectively joined the ranks for the bidoon.

Kuwait citizenship row a risk for business, too / 08 / 2014 / Insights / Home – Monitor Global Outlook | A Premium Service of The Christian Science Monitor.