21 Kuwait groups back call for bedoon protest
Barrak gets compensation from Shahed daily
KUWAIT: Twenty one Kuwaiti political groups and movements yesterday expressed their total backing for calls by bedoons to organize a peaceful protest to observe the International Non-Violence Day and demand their rights.
The groups, which include the Popular Action Movement, the Kuwait Democratic Forum, the Progressive Movement, besides student and civil society organizations, also called on the government to introduce a comprehensive and lasting solution to over 110,000 stateless people.
The groups declared their position as bedoon activists have been calling on bedoon people to stage a peaceful protest on October 2 to observe the NonViolence Day and remind authorities that their plight has not been resolved. In their joint statement, the groups affirmed the rights of individuals and groups as enshrined in international covenants which have been signed and ratified by Kuwait.
They demanded for a comprehensive and fundamental solution to the issue of bedoons which should involve a well-defined plan to naturalize bedoons insisting the plan should start with granting bedoons all their basic civil, economic and social rights.
The groups also called for allowing bedoons legal recourse in courts over nationality issues which is not allowed under the existing nationality law. The groups also called on the government to allow the participation of civil societies and rights organizations in the solution to the decades-long problem. The government has previously said that around 34,000 bedoons out of a total of around 110,000 are eligible to be considered for naturalization whereas the rest are not eligible for consid- eration. The government claims that most of the bedoons or their forefathers had come from other countries and deliberately damaged their identification documents to claim Kuwaiti citizenship to make use of huge benefits given to citizens.
Bedoons however claim they are entitled to Kuwaiti citizenship as they or their ancestors had been ignored when the nationality law was introduced in 1959. In order to force them produce their original nationality, authorities have been launching a crackdown against most of bedoons depriving them of basic rights including identification papers, the right to work, education, health and others.
In another development, the court ordered the Al-Shahed newspaper to pay KD7,000 in compensation to former MP and opposition leader Mussallam Al-Barrak over defamation claims.
The ruling was issued in connection with an article written by the daily several months ago that claimed that the former lawmaker was being patronized and supported by senior members of the Al-Sabah ruling family.