My Vision to solve my issue

A Legal roadmap into solving the Kuwaiti Bedoon issue

By: @YousefALosaimee

The issue of stateless Kuwaitis have accompanied the modern history of Kuwait and is still considered one of the most complex issues facing the legislative and executive branches in solving it, with a sure certainty, I find that all the leaders of political action in Kuwait do not want to solve this problem originally for numerous motives least of it electoral gain in times of elections to elicit sympathy for some climbers and this is considered a contribution in complicating the solution which the political figures in the fourth and fifth district who are participant with stateless Kuwaitis in their tribal dependency,  but most of it is due to the selfish narrow minded inhumane theory that by the distribution of wealth and the involvement of a group of people with the livelihood of  their children for fear that the wealth be depleted depending on the alleged claims of those who assume this, approach I do not find that there is any effort made and was enforced with a credibility to solve this complex problem which the vast majority of the leaders of political action in Kuwait  contributed to its complexity for more than half a century.

Successive governments have tried to resolve the issue of Kuwaiti bedoons by escaping from the solution, their solution was to throw this dilemma and what it contains from Human tragedies to oblivion and relied on nature to solve it and we all know that nature is futile and feed on itself. Now I see that the offered solutions are mediocre and proportioned  to reduce the side effects of this issue. Either this national issue is completely uprooted from its core or any other solution that will be presented will only reduce the number of stateless Kuwaitis by giving part of them the nationality and a decade later their numbers will multiply as before .

The comprehensive solution that I’m presenting:

I begin with the concept National Affiliation which entails the individual to obtain the nationality of a country as defined by international laws either by birthright or the right of region.

Birthright:


This is already achieved due to the common link between the stateless Kuwaitis and the Arabian tribes that makes the vast majority of the components of the Kuwaiti people.

The right of the region:

This is achieved by proving the stateless historical presence that extends at least half a century in the territory of Kuwait before organizing the affiliation law  which was presented as the  Kuwaiti Nationality Law in 15/1959

Revoking the label of (illegal resident) for the stateless:


According to domestic law of residency in Kuwait and legal systems in place, there is no such thing as an illegal resident. Any resident either has a legal residency under the Residence Act 17/1959, or violates the terms of legal residency in Kuwait and will face the penalties mentioned in the Act for those who do not adhere.

The label of (Illegal resident) was first mentioned in the establishing decree of the Executive Committee for Addressing The Situation of Illegal Residents which bears the no. 58/1996 and the Decree of the establishment of the Central Agency to address the situation of illegal residents 467/2010 in an attempt to give legal form to this title/label  and this was baseless due to the fact that the Bedoon were considered legal and legitimate residences of Kuwait according to the paragraph D of article 25 of Law 17/1959 which established clans and tribes in and out movement from and to Kuwait legitimate, and legalized their entry to Kuwait from boarder points and destinations which they contumely entered the country from; this paragraph remained valid and provided legal cover for Kuwaiti stateless and their predecessors prior to 1959 till 1987 when the law was abolished by the 41/1987 law, Through this, those who were  present before the law was abolished in 1987,their residency is legitimate in Kuwait, and it is worth mentioning that after the abolition of the above-mentioned paragraph  no other law was put forth to note such human movement, nor to decide the procedures which regulates the issue of  people covered under the prior article regarding their legitimate presence, thus punishing, in some cases the stateless for violating the law of residence after the cancellation of the paragraph that protected their legal status, this is in no doubt a deliberate, an inadequate legislative fallout made against this category, strangely and which proves the tampering in this file that after the abolition of paragraph D of article 25 of the Residency Act; there has been no layouts of stateless military personnel and stateless security force members  after 1987 for violating legal residence conditions but this has been postponed and later applied, selectively to the other after the liberation from Iraqi invasion, and we find that in many of the cases raised now in the Kuwaiti courts the label/title of an illegal resident is not identified nor documented in official documents of contesting parties because once this title is recognized, the subject bearing such title shall immediately face legal persecution for violation of the Residency Act, soare registered under the name/title of: non-Kuwaiti or not shown or Unspecified Nationality in the minutes of proceedings of the Kuwaiti courts to describe a group of Kuwaiti stateless. 

All solutions provided by the committees formed to resolve this issue goes to map a clear aim to prove the guilt of the Bedoon that they are residing illegally and  oustersize them from the general concept of stateless persons and then invite them to correct their legal status by showing their "real  hidden'' nationality as claimed by the committees and then apply for citizenship under the terms of Article IV and some of the paragraphs of Article V . In reality  this is not  a solution, It increased in the complexity of the situation. It proved its failure by resulting into more than 12 thousand holder of forged, fake passports who are not registered under a legal residency neither in Central committee for the stateless nor the Interior Ministry. Another well known fact is that non- Kuwaitis' who produced documents as some sort of identifications due to all the psychological and economical pressure weren't given the any chance to apply for the Kuwaiti nationality  as this plan suggested initially, strangely it may be, but no Bedoon was ever confronted with legal founded proof of his "hidden nationality" that he possesses and hides.

Security  constrains and Nationality index:

Every misdemeanor or felony falls under the concept of a security constraint, but in the case of stateless this term is subject to a kind of  aselective bureaucracy in the committees entrusted with the solution, The term legal constraint or security constraint is very elastic and has no identified definition at all in Kuwait legal system, and the absent such definition puts  some stateless in the incriminating situation.

There is nothing in any legislation called "Index of the nationality". The case would be with every individual is that he/she would be a citizen of the named State according the domestic law of that State or a stateless individual whose nationality is not specified to be a citizen of any country or State, that there has been no proven affiliation to any state in accordance with its domestic laws.

The stateless in Kuwait also faces a crime of another kind which is not even based on the rule of the criminal law which states that there is no crime or punishment except by law legislated by legislation force of the state, but they are punished on the basis of the ethnic roots of the individual, blood line and descendants it had belonged to the tribes or families lived visible Iraq, Najd or Hijaz has been inferred on the nationality according to the affiliation of the root from which is called The Index of Nationality and is based on doubt and probability; maybe having a nationality in the hidden or does not have. In reality all population of Persian Gulf share similar roots, and the first to apply to this concept are Kuwaitis rather than the stateless since many Kuwaitis have relatives that are Saudis or Iraqis and their citizenship was not dropped based on the same principle.

Who are the authorities making those charges or directing the investigation and search for those indicators? Who can confirm the fact that a Bidoon individual possession of a certain nationality? What standards apply and whether association to a State is in compliance with its domestic law? Why aren't these investigations at some points taken to courts?

In this committee's or investigation authority's work, did it take into account the International Charter of the United Nations between sovereign nations affirming equality of Member States not to lineage citizens of a state without referring to its domestic laws that determine its belonging?

- As per the vast majority of stateless fall under Iraqi by nationality index, please refer to the legal research on the laws of Iraqi nationality that was published in AlHaqiqa online journal almost a year ago under the title: (Iraqi Security Restrictions). ( available here: http://yalosaimee.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-post_15.html )

The involvement of the judiciary:

The involvement of the judiciary is to be established as a higher reference for the determination of the charges validity against the stateless starting from security restrictions and access to the nationalities that have been inferred according to the initial investigation. This can be achieved by adopting the draft Act to amend the fifth paragraph of Article I of the decree establishing the Administrative Court, which was submitted by Mr. Abdullah Fairouz:

After reviewing the articles 27, 29, 166 and 169 of the Kuwaiti Constitution, and Law No. 15/1959 Nationality Act, as amended, and Law No. 12/1996 approving the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Law No. 20/1981 established the Department Management.

Article 1: The text of item (V) of the first article of the Decree Law No. 20 of 1981 referred to, the following text: applications by individuals or bodies to cancel the final administrative decisions and disputes, including citizenship and administrative deportation.

Article 2: The Prime Minister and Ministers - each in his own jurisdiction - the implementation of this law.)

The compatibility of current nationality law with its fourteen amendments to the Bedoon:

* The first paragraph of Article V of the Nationality Act (Whom granted the country great services) What are the services in question in this venerable text? Where it came from? How to determine the allocation of those who offer great services to the country?

Does this Article of granting citizenship based on great merits apply to:

- Former oil company workers in the forties and fifties of the last century?

- Participants in the wars of Arab nationalism under the flag of the State of Kuwait in the wars of 67 and 73?

- Martyrs and prisoners of war, the Iraqi invasion and the battle for the liberation of Kuwait?

- Military retirees that have exceeded 35 years of their service in the Kuwaiti army?

The commencement of this article is elastic to the point that many services of high merit can be inserted beneath it but don't serve the country at all, an explanatory memorandum must be issued indicating exactly what is meant by (great services).

* The third paragraph of Article V of the Nationality Act (those individuals  who lived in Kuwait in 1965 and earlier and maintained a residence there until the issuance of the decree granting citizenship to him and the individual branches are rewarded the nationality as he, provided that this individual be born in Kuwait and resident in it).

The Ministry of the Interior in several times as well as the Executive Chairman of the Central Agency of the stateless announced that the number of stateless currently is approximately 120 thousand and one third and a little more of that number of those who were registered in the census of 1965 which amounts to 40 thousand people, all of these unless it is proved that they possess  the nationality of another State by the domestic law of the state they belong to, these individuals all of them meet the requirement of the third paragraph of Article V of the Nationality Act.

Article IV of the Kuwaiti Nationality Act:

A Decree may -upon the submission of the Minister of the Interior- granting Kuwaiti citizenship to those of age if he meets the following conditions:

1 – That he has made his legal stay in Kuwait for twenty consecutive years at least or fifteen consecutive years, at least if he is an Arab belonging to an Arab country, this successive residence is not broken if nationality applicant departs Kuwait on an official mission -if he went out on a non-official mission with the intention of retaining to Kuwait ,the period spent abroad will be deducted from overall the period of his stay in Kuwait.

2 – To have a legitimate source for a living, and be of good conduct not convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude or dishonesty.

3 - To know the Arabic language.

4 - To be of adequacy or performs services that the country needs.

5 - To be a Muslim by birth, or converted to Islam and declared this according to the methods and procedures, and have since gone at least five years before granting him nationality. The decree that granted himthe nationality will be waived down by the power of the law if he revoked Islam  or acted in a way that advertise this intention. It follows that nationality will be drown from all those who received it by linage to the same individual.

All items of Article IV are available in all Bedoon:

- All of them are registered in the census of Civil Information in 1986 and 1987 and this date exceeds twenty year period consecutively.

Proof of the condition of belonging to an Arab country:

First: It is proven beyond doubt that the roots of Kuwaitis and the roots of stateless is one by belonging to the same Arab tribes, therefore  the association of blood is achieved by the stateless population with the Kuwaitis, according to Article I of the Constitution (the people of Kuwait are a part of the Arabian  nation (As long as the people of Kuwait are part of the Arab nation and a lot of them do not belong to Arab roots but came under the right of affiliation and belonging to the territory, therefore  this should apply to stateless from two points of view that agrees with this context.

Secondly: Canceled paragraph D of Article 25 of the Residence Act provided legal residence to the Arab tribes that the State of Kuwait employed, the descendants of these tribes (stateless) in several sectors of the state as a part of the national workforce, which entails the stateless a sense of belonging to Kuwait and the right of presence under its sovereignty and within the its territory in an affiliation living in an Arab country which is Kuwait.

The remaining paragraphs II, III, IV and V are achieved inevitably without dwelling  on an explanation.

This my vision for the dismantling of the complex issue of the stateless which -as I foresee-  offer a comprehensive final solution. Willingly presented for any person or authority which is able to move this dilemma, and an invitation to the leaders of the legislation to adopt this vision  in order to eradicate this issue once and for all from the face of history of the State of Kuwait. I have proved with what I own of the strength of evidence according to my conviction that the stateless community's entitlement to naturalization in accordance with the Kuwaiti Nationality Law and without any addition or request to amend any article of it. This right is only excluded for those that are found possessing the nationality of another State with an overwhelming evidence. In order to  end this dilemma, all we need is to put the law on action. This vision has no reserved copyrights and is subject to updates and modifications for further development of any party that intends to make use of it.

Original paper was published here:

http://yalosaimee.blogspot.com/2012/02/blog-post.html