Posted on 02/21/2011 6:54:17 PM PST by SunkenCiv
...The number of Bedouin, an Arabic abbreviation of Bidoon Jinsiyah or "without citizenship," is estimated at between 100,000 and 120,000 in a population of 2.8 million. Mostly descendants of Bedouin nomads who failed to apply for citizenship when Kuwait passed its citizenship law in 1959, the Bedouin cannot legally work in Kuwait and are denied health care, public education and access to courts. They are also denied a piece of the huge largesse that comes from the country's oil resources.
The government requires them to relinquish citizenship claims in order to receive birth, marriage or death certificates, Human Rights Watch reported. Al-Shamari said that up until 1986 Bedouin enjoyed the same rights as regular Kuwaitis, except for the right to vote. During the 1980s, they comprised some 90% of Kuwait's army and Interior Ministry personnel, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at arabnews.com ...
Kuwait urged to reopen Al-Jazeera office
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/6096/World/Region/Kuwait-urged-to-reopen-AlJazeera-office.aspx
Bedouin mother with her three children, seated on a bale of hay, reaching her hand out for money, begging bypassers
My first thought was, “How much for my daughters?”
Kuwait has it about right. You’re not a Citizen, you get NOTHING!
:’)
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