Stateless in the Gulf: Migration, Nationality and Society in Kuwait (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)

"The Kuwaiti population includes around 100,000 people - approximately 10 per cent of the Kuwaiti nationals -whose legal status is contested. Often considered 'stateless', they have come to be known in Kuwait as biduns, from 'bidun jinsiyya', which means literally 'without nationality' in Arabic. As long-term residents with close geographical ties and intimate cultural links to the emirate, the biduns claim that they are entitled to Kuwaiti nationality because they have no other. But since 1986 the State of Kuwait, has considered them 'illegal residents' on Kuwaiti territory. As a result, the biduns have been denied civil and human rights and treated as undocumented migrants, with no access to employment, health, education or official birth and death certificates. It was only after the first-ever bidun protest in 2011, that the government softened restrictions imposed upon them. Claire Beaugrand argues here that, far from being an anomaly, the position of the biduns is of central importance to the understanding of state formation processes in the Gulf countries, and the ways in which identity and the boundaries of nationality are negotiated and concretely enacted."--Bloomsbury Publishing. "The Kuwaiti population includes around 100,000 people - approximately 10 per cent of the Kuwaiti nationals -whose legal status is contested. Often considered `stateless', they have come to be known in Kuwait as biduns, from `bidun jinsiyya', which means literally `without nationality' in Arabic. As long-term residents with close geographical ties and intimate cultural links to the emirate, the biduns claim that they are entitled to Kuwaiti nationality because they have no other. But since 1986 the State of Kuwait, has considered them `illegal residents' on Kuwaiti territory. As a result, the biduns have been denied civil and human rights and treated as undocumented migrants, with no access to employment, health, education or official birth and death certificates. It was only after the first-ever bidun protest in 2011, that the government softened restrictions imposed upon them. Claire Beaugrand argues here that, far from being an anomaly, the position of the biduns is of central importance to the understanding of state formation processes in the Gulf countries, and the ways in which identity and the boundaries of nationality are negotiated and concretely enacted."-- Page 4 de la couverture "The stateless (bidun) of Kuwait represent around 10 per cent of Kuwaiti nationals--approximately 100,000 people. With their origins in the tribes of the northern Arabian deserts (spanning today's Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Levant), they are, for most outsiders, indistinguishable from Kuwaitis. After a period when the state condoned the presence of people with an undefined status on its territory, the biduns were classified as 'illegal migrants' in 1986. As such, they were gradually deprived of all their rights: from access to the job market, health and education to the issuing of birth, marriage or death certificates. [The author] argues that far from being an anomaly in the state system, the position of the bidun is of central importance to any understanding of the state formation processes in the Gulf, and the ways in which identity and the boundaries of nationality are negotiated."-- Provided by publisher Cover Author Biography Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Note on Transliteration Arabic Transliteration Table Foreword Acknowledgements Preface 1. From Invisibility to Stigma: Who are the Biduns? 2. The Transnational Foundations of the Kuwaiti Emirate 3. From Shanty Bedouins to Illegal Residents 4. The Manufacturing of Illegality 5. The Emerging ‘Cause’ of the Biduns: Supporters and Opponents 6. Sans-papiers Mobilisation in an Oil Monarchy Conclusion Appendix: Family Tree of the Al-Sabah Notes Select Bibliography Index