New proposed legislation to address the issue of the stateless Bidun community in Kuwait risks entrenching and perpetuating the state’s decades-long pattern of discrimination and marginalization, Amnesty International said today. If passed, the new law would in effect compel the Bidun to abandon their long-standing claim to Kuwaiti nationality in order to safeguard their socioeconomic survival in the short term. The Kuwaiti authorities must ensure a long-overdue humane, sustainable, and comprehensive solution to the plight of the Bidun in a manner that guarantees their rights to access employment and state services, particularly health care and education.
