US Department of State — 2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Kuwait

Revocation of citizenship: 'By law the government is prohibited from revoking the citizenship of an individual who is born a citizen unless that individual has obtained a second nationality, which is against the law. Nevertheless, the government can revoke the citizenship of naturalized citizens for cause, including a felony conviction, and subsequently deport them.' In 2014 at least 33 people had their citizenship revoked, including opposition activists, a media owner, a Salafist cleric and tribal members, under the 1959 law's provision for naturalised citizens who acquired citizenship dishonestly or threatened to 'undermine the economic or social structure of the country'. 'If a person loses citizenship, all family members whose status derives from that person also lose their citizenship and all associated rights'; those affected 'became stateless individuals', and a 'block' on their names prevented travel and access to services. In October 2016 an administrative court restored the citizenship of Ahmad Jabr al-Shemmari, former owner of Alam al-Youm, 'after the Court of Cassation ruled that the courts had jurisdiction over citizen revocation cases'. There were no known revocations in 2016.

Stateless persons: 'The law does not provide noncitizens, including bidoon, a clear or defined opportunity to gain nationality', and the courts' lack of authority to rule on stateless status leaves bidoon 'with no access to the judiciary'. Government figures put the bidoon population at about 96,000 (Human Rights Watch: more than 105,000). The government stated that 32,000 qualified for consideration for citizenship but only 8,000 would be eligible given security status and criminal records; 8,004 had 'adjusted their legal status since 2011 claiming Saudi, Iraqi, Syrian, Iranian, Jordanian, and other nationalities'. Naturalisation requires DNA evidence of paternity. A citizenship application may be refused for security or criminal violations by family members.

Documents and services: about 15,000 bidoon children were not provided birth certificates 'due to security restrictions'; the government issued 2,664 birth and death and 1,439 marriage and divorce certificates to bidoon in the first nine months of 2015, and 35,844 identification cards as of May 2016. The Interior Ministry has not issued 'Article 17' passports to bidoon, except on humanitarian grounds, since 2014. Bidoon have no property rights. Zakat House gave monthly assistance to 14,455 bidoon families. Kuwaiti women cannot pass citizenship to their children unless divorced or widowed from the non-citizen father.

Other findings: about two dozen arrests during the year for insulting the emir, neighbouring rulers or the judiciary, including bidoon human rights advocates; the UN Committee against Torture's July 2016 concern at 'consistent reports of torture and ill-treatment' in prolonged detention; frequent arbitrary arrest and extrajudicial deportation of foreign workers.

USE IN A REPORT: the most detailed official-figure source for 2016 on bidoon documentation and on the legal mechanics of citizenship revocation — in particular the derivative loss of citizenship by dependants and the resulting statelessness, the 'block' on civil records, and the non-issue of Article 17 passports.

For legal practitioners: the passage on revocation is the clearest official statement of the law as it stood in 2016 — citizens by birth protected unless holding a second nationality, naturalised citizens revocable for cause, dependants losing status derivatively and becoming stateless, and the Court of Cassation's acceptance that the courts have jurisdiction over revocation cases. That baseline is essential when assessing the scope and legality of later revocation measures. For caseworkers: the figures on birth certificates, identification cards and Article 17 passports are directly relevant to whether a claimant could have held a given document, and the 8,004 'status adjustments' to foreign nationalities are important context where another nationality is alleged. State Department reports are routinely given independent weight by tribunals.