December 16th, 2009 by Zack

The Daily Star has reported that the Kuwaiti Parliament failed to convene a special session in order to resolve the humanitarian issue of stateless Arabs.  MP Hassan Jowhar, head of the parliamentary committee on stateless Arabs, known locally as the “bidoon,” accused the government of deliberately preventing the meeting by applying tight security measures and blocking roads leading to Parliament, measures put in place in response to calls by some MPs to assemble a large number of bidoon outside the parliament building.  The story notes that “Kuwait launched a crackdown on bidoon in 2000, depriving them of their essential rights in a bid to force them to reveal what the authorities say is their true identity.” As a result, authorities claim 20,000 bidoon revealed their original citizenship and were given residence permits.

Posted in Freedom, Gulf, Kuwait, Legislation, Protests |