Demographic imbalance

There is no doubt that the political, economic and security situation the region is going through compels its countries to give the demographic imbalance issue more attention, following the tough circumstances the Arab region went through and their repercussions on the Arabian Gulf region. The demographic imbalance was always under discussion and still is, but it does not find the necessary practical steps to serious discussions that reach clear views in order to present suitable solutions.

This introduction was mentioned in a study made on March 12, 2017 by the political and economic studies department at the State Ministry for National Assembly Affairs. What made me go through the study of the demographic imbalance is the argument that the political arena has seen lately, especially what is related to the opinions of those who support amending the nationality law, and others who reject such proposal.

For the sake of neutrality, I went through the website of the State Ministry for National Assembly Affairs, and I ended up with an effort that was neither scientific nor tiring, to read the political research as described by the ministry. I had previously talked about this ministry, saying that its existence or nonexistence are the same, because it is a ministry that should be merged with another state department, and has its structure reduced or cancelled completely in order to rationalize government spending as mentioned in the so-called the ‘economic reform document.’

The research includes in its introduction a clear confession about “absence of serious discussions to find suitable solutions.” This is not strange for a struggling state department, but the introduction of the nine-page research that was based on the sources of four local newspapers, al-Mojtamaa Magazine (the Muslims magazine around the world), and the Kuwait 2035 vision that “the danger of the current and coming results require a different performance by decision makers in their dealing with the phenomenon that is worrying Kuwait and Kuwaitis more than any time before.”

Who are the decision makers that are supposed to have a different performance? The answer is simply the government, as the government bears the responsibility of the demographic structure’s imbalance for many years. The problem does not only lie in the presence of “unskilled labor and expats whose numbers are more than citizens,” as the study said, but also in damaging the national identity since the 1970s, besides the government’s procrastination in “dealing with the situation of illegal residents,” which is one of the recommendations mentioned in the study.

Scientific studies and appeals by MPs and writers for tens of years warned against the demographic imbalance, which has been snowballing until it later became a social and political ticking bomb that may lead to fragmenting the society and causing a division of dire effects. The humble demographic study is an indicator of the existence of more than one authority within the executive authority. The State Ministry of National Assembly Affairs carried out a number of political studies including three studies in 2010, three others in 2015, and one in 2017, while the economic studies’ department did not have any study, perhaps because we are approaching a ‘new Kuwait with eyes that do not see.’

—Translated by Kuwait Times