Bedoon

(Redirected from Bidun)

The Bedoon or Bidoon (Arabic: بدون جنسية, romanizedBidūn jinsiya, lit.'without nationality'), fully Bidoon jinsiya, are stateless people in several Middle Eastern countries,[1] but particularly in Kuwait, where there is a large population of stateless people who lack access to many of the country's basic services.[2][3][4][5] It is widely believed that the Bedoon issue in Kuwait is sectarian in nature.[2][6][3][4][7][8][5]

Kuwait

edit

History

edit

Kuwait has the largest number of stateless people in the entire region.[9] Most stateless Bedoon of Kuwait belong to the northern tribes, especially the Al-Muntafiq tribal confederation.[10][11][7][12][13][14][15][16] The linguist Bruce Ingham studied the northern tribes in Kuwait in the mid 20th century.[17] A minority of stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to the 'Ajam community.[18]

Under the terms of the Kuwait Nationality Law 15/1959, all the Bedoon in Kuwait are eligible for Kuwaiti nationality by naturalization.[19] In practice, it is widely believed that Sunnis of Persian descent or tribal Saudis can readily achieve Kuwaiti naturalization whilst Bedoon of Iraqi tribal ancestry cannot.[20] As a result, many Bedoon in Kuwait feel pressured to hide their background or sectarian affiliation.[21]

From 1965 until 1985, the Bedoon were treated as Kuwaiti citizens and guaranteed citizenship: they had free access to education, healthcare and all the other privileges of citizenship.[22] The stateless Bedoon constituted 80–90% of the Kuwaiti Army in the 1970s and 1980s until the Gulf War.[23]

In 1985, at the height of the Iran–Iraq War and following an assassination attempt on Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah,[24][25] the Bedoon were reclassified as "illegal residents" and denied Kuwaiti citizenship and its accompanying privileges.[22][23][26] The Iran-Iraq War threatened Kuwait's internal stability and the authorities feared the sectarian background of the stateless Bedoon.[23] The Bedoon issue in Kuwait "overlaps with historic sensitivities about Iraqi influence inside Kuwait", with many of those denied Kuwaiti nationality being believed to have originated from Iraq.[27]

Since 1986, the Kuwaiti government has refused to grant any form of documentation to the Bedoon, including birth certificates, death certificates, identity cards, marriage certificates, and driving licences. The Bedoon also face many restrictions in employment, travel and education. They are not permitted to educate their children in state schools and universities.

In 1995, Human Rights Watch reported that there were 300,000 stateless Bedoon, and this number was formally repeated by the British government.[28][29]

According to several human rights organizations, the State of Kuwait is committing ethnic cleansing and genocide against the stateless Bedoon.[30][13] The Kuwaiti Bedoon crisis resembles the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.[19] In 1995, it was reported in the British parliament that the Al Sabah ruling family had deported 150,000 stateless Bedoon to refugee camps in the Kuwaiti desert near the Iraqi border with minimal water, insufficient food and no basic shelter, and that they were threatened with death if they returned to their homes in Kuwait City.[29][16] As a result, many of the stateless Bedoon fled to Iraq, where they remain stateless people even today.[31][32] The Kuwaiti government also stands accused of attempting to falsify their nationalities in official state documents.[33] There have been reports of forced disappearances and mass graves of Bedoon.[30][34][35][36][37][38][16]

The 1995 Human Rights Watch report stated:

"The totality of the treatment of the Bedoons amounts to a policy of denationalization of native residents, relegating them to an apartheid-like existence in their own country. The Kuwaiti government policy of harassment and intimidation of the Bedoons and of denying them the right to lawful residence, employment, travel and movement, contravene basic principles of human rights. Denial of citizenship to the Bedoons clearly violates international law. Denying Bedoons the right to petition the courts to challenge governmental decisions regarding their claims to citizenship and lawful residence in the country violates the universal right to due process of law and equality before the law."[29]

British MP George Galloway stated:

"Of all the human rights atrocities committed by the ruling family in Kuwait, the worst and the greatest is that against the people known as the Bedoons. There are more than 300,000 Bedoons—one third of Kuwait's native population. Half of them—150,000—have been driven into refugee camps in the desert across the Iraqi border by the regime and left there to bake and to rot. The other 150,000 are treated not as second-class or even fifth-class citizens, but not as any sort of citizen. They are bereft of all rights. It is a scandal that almost no one in the world cares a thing about the plight of 300,000 people, 150,000 of them cast out of the land in which they have lived [when] many have lived in the Kuwaiti area for many centuries."[29]

By 2004, the Bedoon accounted for only 40% of the Kuwaiti Army, a major reduction from their presence in the 1970s and 1980s.[39] In 2013, the UK government estimated that there were 110,729 "documented" Bedoon in Kuwait, without giving a total estimate, but noting that all stateless individuals in Kuwait remain at risk of persecution and human rights breaches.[40] The Bedoon are generally categorized into three groups: stateless tribespeople, stateless police/military and the stateless children of Kuwaiti women who married Bedoon men.[23] According to the Kuwaiti government, there are only 93,000 "documented" Bedoon in Kuwait.[40] In 2018, the Kuwaiti government claimed that it would naturalize up to 4,000 stateless Bedoon per year but this is considered unlikely.[20][41] In 2019, the Iranian embassy in Kuwait announced that it offers Iranian citizenship to stateless Bedoon of Iranian ancestry.[42][43]

In recent years, the rate of suicide among Bedoon has risen sharply.[22]

Demographic engineering

edit

The State of Kuwait formally has an official Nationality Law that grants non-nationals a legal pathway to obtaining citizenship.[44] However, as access to citizenship in Kuwait is autocratically controlled by the Al Sabah ruling family it is not subject to any external regulatory supervision.[45][44] The naturalization provisions within the Nationality Law are arbitrarily implemented and lack transparency.[44][45] The lack of transparency prevents non-nationals from receiving a fair opportunity to obtain citizenship.[46][45] Consequently, the Al Sabah ruling family have been able to manipulate naturalization for politically motivated reasons.[45][47][48][49][50][46][51][52][53] In the three decades after independence in 1961, the Al Sabah ruling family naturalized hundreds of thousands of foreign Bedouin immigrants predominantly from Saudi Arabia.[49][54][45][51][47][52][48][46][53][55] By 1980, as many as 200,000 immigrants were naturalized in Kuwait.[54] Throughout the 1980s, the Al Sabah's politically motivated naturalization policy continued.[54][45] The naturalizations were not regulated nor sanctioned by Kuwaiti law.[45][47][49][55] The exact number of naturalizations is unknown but it is estimated that up to 400,000 immigrants were unlawfully naturalized in Kuwait.[55][49] The foreign Bedouin immigrants were mainly naturalized to alter the demographic makeup of the citizen population in a way that made the power of the Al Sabah ruling family more secure.[50][45][47][49] As a result of the politically motivated naturalizations, the number of naturalized citizens exceeds the number of Bedoon in Kuwait.[46] The Al Sabah ruling family actively encouraged foreign Bedouin immigrants to migrate to Kuwait.[54] The Al Sabah ruling family favored naturalizing Bedouin immigrants because they were considered loyal to the ruling family, unlike the politically active Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian expats in Kuwait.[54] The naturalized citizens were predominantly Sunni Saudi immigrants from southern tribes.[53][49][47] Accordingly, none of the stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to the Ajman tribe.[47]

The Kuwaiti judicial system's lack of authority to rule on citizenship further complicates the Bedoon crisis, leaving Bedoon no access to the judiciary to present evidence and plead their case for citizenship.[46] Although non-nationals constitute 70% of Kuwait's total population the Al Sabah ruling family persistently denies citizenship to most non-nationals, including those who fully satisfy the requirements for naturalization as stipulated in the state's official Nationality Law. There is no official national census disclosing sectarian affiliation in Kuwait. However, it is estimated that 60-80% of Kuwait's Bedoon are Shia Muslims[2][3][6][7][5] as a result, it is widely believed that the Bedoon issue in Kuwait is sectarian in nature.[2][6][3][4][7][8][5] The Kuwaiti authorities permit the forgery of hundreds of thousands of politically motivated naturalizations[46][55] whilst simultaneously denying citizenship to the Bedoon.[46][55] The politically motivated naturalizations were noted by the United Nations, political activists, scholars, researchers and even members of the Al Sabah family.[46][45][47][49][50][48][56][51][54][52][55] It is widely considered a form of deliberate demographic engineering and has been likened to Bahrain's politically motivated naturalization policy.[45][50][53] Within the GCC countries, politically motivated naturalization policies are referred to as "political naturalization" (التجنيس السياسي).[45]

Asylum seekers in Europe

edit

A large number of stateless Bedoon regularly immigrate to Europe as asylum seekers. The United Kingdom is the most popular destination for Bedoon asylum seekers. According to the Home Office, Kuwait is the eighth largest source of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel on small boats in 2021.[57][58][59]

Iraq

edit

Immediately after the 1991 Gulf War many stateless Bedoon from Kuwait migrated to Iraq, most with no recognized nationality or official papers.[32] There are currently tens of thousands of Kuwaiti stateless Bedoon living in Iraq.[32] The process of obtaining citizenship is much simpler in Iraq than in Kuwait owing to the presence of judicial court systems of reviewing citizenship.[32] Since August 2017, the UNCHR has been coordinating with Iraqi NGOs to help stateless Bedoon receive Iraqi citizenship.[32]

United Arab Emirates

edit

According to Federal Law No 17 of the United Arab Emirates Citizenship and Passport Law of 1972, any Arab who resided in the Trucial States before 1925 is eligible to obtain UAE citizenship.[60] Many stateless people who live in the UAE have failed to obtain Emirati passports, either because they have failed to demonstrate that they lived in the region before 1925, their roots cannot be traced back to the UAE region or because they arrived in the region after 1925. Stateless people are generally considered descendants of immigrants of Badia Arabs from Balush or Iranian Baloch ancestry. The UAE also deported some Bedoon people after the Arab Spring.[61]

All stateless people in the UAE unable to obtain any passport are offered the Comorian passport, free of charge, through a government initiative for a citizenship by investment deal worth millions of dollars with the government of Comoros and enjoy certain citizenship privileges such as subsidized education and access to government jobs in the UAE.[62][63][64]

Saudi Arabia

edit

Bedoon in Saudi Arabia are not considered Saudi citizens and therefore have no benefits. Saudi Arabia has revoked citizenship of certain Saudis in the past too, which means these people become Bedoon. However some of them have the right to education, free healthcare and access to jobs that are not exclusive to citizens. Most of these Bedoon are displaced from Yemen or Jordan and Syria.[65][66]

Islamic Republic of Iran

edit

There are also stateless people in different provinces in the Islamic Republic of Iran, known as Bedoon-e Shenasnameh, which means without having a birth certificate or ID. The majority of the stateless people in Iran are Baloch people living in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan. A small minority of stateless people live in Khuzestan and Kurdistan provinces.[67]

Qatar

edit

Qatar has a number of stateless people living within its borders. Qatar has stripped the citizenship of and imprisoned many of the members of the Al-Ghufran tribe.[68]

Bahrain

edit

Like neighboring Qatar, Bahrain also has a number of stateless people, some of whom were dissidents.[69]

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ World Migration 2005 Costs and Benefits of International Migration. International Organization for Migration. 2005. p. 53. ISBN 9788171885503. Archived from the original on 2021-11-21. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  2. ^ a b c d "Government of United Kingdom". Archived from the original on 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2020-12-28. "The Kuwaiti Bedoon's continued exclusion from nationality can only be understood in the light of the power struggle in a system which was largely based on sectarianism and tribalism within newly emerging emirates striving to assert their legitimacy and authority. The majority of the Bedoon are in fact an extended branch of tribes across the borders between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia and are largely of the Muslim Shi'ite faith".
  3. ^ a b c d "State formation of Kuwait" (PDF). p. 83. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  4. ^ a b c "Stateless in Kuwait". 14 January 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020. The Sunni ruling elite discriminate against the bidoon, many of whom are Shia.
  5. ^ a b c d "כוויית: עושר רב לצד מתחים אתניים ודיכוי". Israel Hayom (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  6. ^ a b c "Exploring the perceptions of informed individuals about the education provisions of Bidoun in Kuwait". p. 13. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  7. ^ a b c d Eman Shams Aldeen (September 19, 2012). "البدون فــي الكويـــت.. مواطنون بلا هوية". As-Safir Al-Arabi (in Arabic). Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Jaber Al-Sharefee (January 26, 2021). "خمسة أسباب لاستمرار قضية البدون - جابر الشريفي". Platform Post (in Arabic). Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  9. ^ "The Gulf's Stateless People without Rights Decades after Independence". Human Rights First. Archived from the original on 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  10. ^ "بدون الكويت: كرة ثلج تتدحرج منذ 40 عاماً". Elaph (in Arabic). 2007. Archived from the original on 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  11. ^ Fayez Alfayez (February 26, 2021). "أزمة الهوية الوطنية - د. فايز الفايز". Platform Post (in Arabic). Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  12. ^ Ahmad Jaber (February 2021). "Critical sociolinguistic ethnography as a lens to statelessness: a case from the Bidoon community in Kuwait". Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  13. ^ a b "Kuwait's Laws and Policies of Ethnic Discrimination, Erasure and Genocide Against The Bedoon Minority Submission on 'Human Rights Protections for Minorities Recognised in the UN System'". Susan Kennedy Nour al Deen. 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  14. ^ Report to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Annual Study. Bedoon Indigenous Rights in the Context of Borders, Migration and Displacement (PDF) (Thesis). OHCHR. 2019. p. 1–63. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  15. ^ "Stateless Bedoons Are Shut Out of Kuwait". The Christian Science Monitor. 1991. Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  16. ^ a b c Susan Kennedy Nour al Deen (2018). "The Bedoun Archive: A public archive created for the northern tribes Bedouin of Kuwait". Education as Change. 22 (2). doi:10.25159/1947-9417/3435. S2CID 240259439.
  17. ^ Enam al-Wer, Rudolf Erik de Jong, ed. (2009). Arabic Dialectology: In Honour of Clive Holes on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday. Vol. 53. Brill. pp. 99–100. ISBN 9789047425595. Archived from the original on 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  18. ^ Ajam Media Collective (2018). "Between Two Deserts: Visual Vignettes from an Iranian-Kuwaiti Bidoon in New Mexico". Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  19. ^ a b David S. Weissbrodt (2008). The Human Rights of Non-citizens. Oxford University Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780199547821. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  20. ^ a b Mona Kareem (2013). "Is Kuwait Serious About Bedoon Naturalization?". Archived from the original on 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  21. ^ "The National Project to Resolve the Kuwaiti Bedoon Case (Kuwait) End Statelessness Foundation (Australia) - 1 February, 2019 Report to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Annual Study - Bedoon Indigenous Rights in the Context of Borders, Migration and Displacement" (PDF). p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  22. ^ a b c "Kuwait Bedoon - Special Rapporteurs, United Nations, Requesting Investigation of Kuwait's Treatment of the Bedoon". Un Special Procedures Request. January 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  23. ^ a b c d "United Kingdom Government - Bedoon" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  24. ^ "CAR BOMBER FAILS IN ATTEMPT TO KILL LEADER OF KUWAIT". The New York Times. 1985. Archived from the original on 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  25. ^ "Kuwaiti Ruler Eludes Attack By Car-Bomber". The Washington Post. 1985. Archived from the original on 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  26. ^ "Kuwait City Journal; The Bedoons: Outcasts in the Land They Served". The New York Times. 1991. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  27. ^ "Australian Government - Bedoon" (PDF). p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  28. ^ "THE Bedoons of Kuwaiy Citizens without Citizenship". Human Rights Watch. August 1995. Archived from the original on 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  29. ^ a b c d "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 23 Oct 1995 - Parliament Publications". House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Oct 23, 1995. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  30. ^ a b "Kuwait's humanitarian disaster Inter-generational erasure, ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Bedoon". OHCHR. 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  31. ^ "EASO Country of Origin Information Report Iraq Targeting of Individuals" (PDF). European Asylum Support Office. pp. 149–150. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  32. ^ a b c d e Charlie Dunmore and Edith Champagne in Basra, Iraq (10 October 2019). "Citizenship hopes become reality for Iraq's Bidoon minority". UNCHR. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  33. ^ Human Rights Watch, 350 Fifth Avenue 34th Floor, New York. "Report on the Human Rights Watch Report and Response to its Questions and Inquiries" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2019-01-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ "Mideast situation – Middle East Watch Report – Letter from Palestine". United Nations. 1991. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  35. ^ "Human Rights Watch World Report 1993 - Kuwait". Human Rights Watch. 1993. Archived from the original on 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  36. ^ "Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 - Kuwait". Human Rights Watch. 1992. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  37. ^ "In Kuwait, No Human-Rights Progress". The New York Times. 1991. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  38. ^ "Human Rights Developments Kuwait". Human Rights Watch. 1993. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  39. ^ Ghanim Al-Najjar (2004). "Challenges of Security Sector Governance in Kuwait" (PDF). pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-17.
  40. ^ a b "United Kingdom Government - Bedoon" (PDF). p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  41. ^ "Assembly OKs bill on number of people to be granted Kuwaiti citizenship in '18". ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT NEWS. 2018-03-21. Archived from the original on 2018-09-28. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  42. ^ "Iran offers citizenship to stateless people with 'Iranian roots' in Kuwait". Al Arabiya. September 9, 2019. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  43. ^ "طهران: مُستعدّون لتجنيس "البدون" الإيرانيين". Al Rai (in Arabic). September 8, 2019. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  44. ^ a b c "IV. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON ORIGIN AND STATUS: THE BIDUN". Human Rights Watch. 2000. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  45. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rivka Azoulay (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. Bloomsbury. pp. 100–110. ISBN 9781838605063. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-05-03. Political naturalizations of tribesmen
  46. ^ a b c d e f g h "Human Rights Council, Forty-sixth session, 22 February–19 March 2021, Agenda item 3, Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development. Written statement* submitted by International Council. Supporting Fair Trial and Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization in special consultative status. The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31". United Nations. 17 February 2021. p. 2. Archived from the original on 5 April 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  47. ^ a b c d e f g Claire Beaugrand. "Statelessness and Transnationalism in Northern Arabia: Biduns and State Building in Kuwait, 1959-2009" (PDF). p. 137. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-02-28. Extra-Legal Naturalisations and Population Statistics
  48. ^ a b c Frederic Wehrey, ed. (February 2018). Beyond Sunni and Shia: The Roots of Sectarianism in a Changing Middle East. Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780190911195. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-05-03. To counter the strong influence of Arab nationalism in the decades after independence in 1961, Kuwait naturalized more than 200,000 Bedouin tribesmen to serve as a reliable pro-government bloc in parliament.
  49. ^ a b c d e f g Rivka Azoulay (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. Bloomsbury. p. 21. ISBN 9781838605063. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  50. ^ a b c d Michael Herb (18 December 2014). The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801454684. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021. How then do we explain the naturalizations that have occurred in the Gulf states in the past, such as the granting of citizenship to thousands of bedu (bedouin) by Kuwait in the 1960s and 1970s? Typically these naturalizations were imposed by the ruling families and were designed to alter the demographic makeup of the citizen society in a way that made the power of the ruling families more secure
  51. ^ a b c Gwenn Okruhlik (February 8, 2012). "The identity politics of Kuwait's election". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  52. ^ a b c Justin Gengler (August 29, 2016). "The Political Economy of Sectarianism in the Gulf". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  53. ^ a b c d John Warner (April 17, 2013). "Questioning Sectarianism in Bahrain and Beyond: An Interview with Justin Gengler". Jadaliyya. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  54. ^ a b c d e f Andrzej Kapiszewski (2005). "Non-indigenous citizens and "stateless" residents in the Gulf monarchies. The Kuwaiti bidun" (PDF). p. 70. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  55. ^ a b c d e f Sheikh Sabah Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah (February 10, 2018). "اتقوا الله وجنِّسوا الكويتيين البدون". Al-Shahed Newspaper (in Arabic). Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  56. ^ Mohammad E. Alhabib (2010). The Shia Migration from Southwestern Iran to Kuwait: Push-Pull Factors during the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Thesis). Georgia State University. p. 46. Archived from the original on 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  57. ^ "An analysis of Channel crossings & asylum outcomes November 2021" (PDF). Refugee Council. November 2021. pp. 3–4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  58. ^ "Most people who risk Channel boat crossings are refugees – report". The Guardian. November 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  59. ^ "Refugee Council: Majority of asylum seekers crossing the Channel are likely to be recognised as being in genuine need of protection". Refugee Council. November 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  60. ^ "UAE Citizenship and Passport Law of Year 1972, Article 17". Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  61. ^ "UAE turns to deportation to silence regime's critics". The Independent. 2012-06-07. Archived from the original on 2019-11-11. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  62. ^ "Citizenship hope for UAE stateless". 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  63. ^ "Special report: Ten years on, the UAE's stateless people reflect on how life has improved and on the challenges ahead". The National. 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  64. ^ Abrahamian, Atossa Araxia (2018-01-05). "Opinion | Who Loses When a Country Puts Citizenship Up for Sale?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  65. ^ "Immolation in Riyadh exposes plight of Arab stateless in Saudi Arabia". Reuters. 2013-06-26. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  66. ^ "The 'Bidoon' of Saudi Arabia: Generations of discrimination". english.alarabiya.net. 30 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  67. ^ "Thousands left stateless in Iran amid ID card limbo - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. 22 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  68. ^ "Doha rejects opportunity at UN to end its persecution of Qatari tribe". Arab News. 2019-10-09. Archived from the original on 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  69. ^ "The new unpeople". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-12.