The Bidoon in Kuwait have been on a hunger strike since 28 March 2022. This is in response to decades of pressure and ignorance by the State. In addition to the discrimination and exclusion they experience due to their unresolved nationality problem, the Bidoon in Kuwait are left with three, only three, options: 

i). accepting official falsification of their records in their homeland Kuwait;

ii). forced (illegal) migration to EU, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom;

iii). committing suicide

Examples of these realities are accessible on Twitter the #Bidoon_strike, and they are well documented by international human rights organizations, e.g., Amnesty International and  Human Rights Watch.

The Kuwaiti Government's practices against the Bidoon have ramifications not only on the community members, but also on the Kuwaiti society as a whole, as well as societies in countries where the Bidoon have been seeking asylum as a result of being persecuted in their homeland. 

Based on the Britain’s historical role in developing Kuwait’s economic and administrative infrastructures, particularly between 1940s and 1961 when Kuwait was a protectorate, we call on the society, parliament and government of the United Kingdom to take a decisive part in advocating an urgent, fair and conclusive solution of the Bidoon’s question. Such an initiative will contribute positively to the UK Government’s efforts to address the global forced migration crisis.

In addition, we call on the United Nation to step forward and activate its role and responsibility in addressing the Bidoon’s question of statelessness in liaison with the leadership in Kuwait and the relevant stakeholders, namely the Bidoon themselves and the civil society in Kuwait.

People around the world!

Your words to your friends, parliament and government members can stop the avoidable suffering and displacement of the Bidoon children, men and women, who are humans like you are. Every voice makes a difference. Kindly vote.

 

Sincerely,

Ahmad Benswait

Independent exile Bidoon social science researcher in the UK

(on behalf of the Bidoon (strikers) in Kuwait)