1939 demographics & fate
We will never stop talking about the demographics as it represents a difficult problem in light of the refusal of a large section of the nation to do many of the works that the expatriates do.
As soon as we hear that a citizen runs a butchery or a carpentry workshop, newspapers rush to make reports about him, as if he is from another planet.
In light of this clear reluctance to perform specific works and jobs, sometimes out of flair, and often out of ignorance of how to do them, we have to stop lamenting over the issue of the composition, live with it and leave it to the labor market mechanism with tighter control over the unemployed.
Also, talking about holders of dual nationality is a hot topic! Although Kuwaiti laws do not allow dual citizenship, as is the case in a few countries, talking about this situation and warning of its dangers and bad economic consequences are intended for specific dual nationals who hold Kuwaiti and Gulf nationalities in particular.
But the truth is that those dual nationality holders are more than that. There are tens of thousands who were born outside the country, and they automatically took on the nationalities of the countries in which they were born.
Some also have other nationalities as a result of their investment here or there, but the difference between these and the those who hold the Gulf nationality beside the Kuwaiti is that the members of the first category do not constitute a burden on the state, and are not often accused of double loyalty, and this does not mean that they are not violating the law.
Therefore it is difficult for the concerned authorities, at least in the near future, to open this file without harming a group that the state -- at least currently -- does not want to harm.
Mr. Hisham Al-Awadhi is considered one of the finest academics who tries to search for facts and important topics, write about them, or audio and video document them and broadcast them on YouTube.
His latest discoveries were a secret British document, which is a report prepared by the representative of the Government of India in the region in 1939 (the year of the Council) regarding the number of residents in Kuwait in that year, of various nationalities, religions and ethnicities, indicating that the population of Kuwait at that time numbered approximately 40 thousand, including 3,000 from AlAwazim, 2,500 from Mutair, 2,500 from Al-Rashaida, and similar ones from Al-Khawalid, 200 Dawasir, and a similar number of Anza and 500 from Al-Dhafeer, with ten thousand individuals belonging to separate Najdi families, and a similar number of descendants of Iranian origin, and 3000 Baharnah.
As for the Fawadra, their number reached 1,000, the Iraqis numbered 700, the Janaa’s 200, the Hasawiya 3,000, and the Africans 4,000.
Perhaps the majority of these were slaves working in the fishing and diving professions, in addition to 165 Jews and 200 Christians.
The population of villages and islands reached 1500 in Jahra, 500 in Fahaheel, 500 in Abu Halifa, 1500 in Failaka, and 2000 in Salmiya and Hawalli.
By comparing these numbers with what was shown by the numbers of the last election polls, we feel the extent of the change that has occurred in the demographic structure over the past eighty years, and how we have fallen short in observing the demographic change year after year, and we have left these issues, like others, to fate.