Kuwaiti MP for change in Nationality Law

Confining granting of citizenship only to Muslims fundamentally wrong, Al Shatti says

AKuwaiti lawmaker has submitted a motion to cancel a provision in the Nationality Law that stipulates that Kuwaiti citizenship can be granted only to Muslims.

MP Khalid Al Shatti said that the condition of Islam in Provision Five of Article Four was non-consistent with the legal concept of citizenship and confining granting the nationality to Muslims was fundamentally wrong. “The issue of citizenship is different from religion because religion is for God and the homeland is for all,” he said. “One of the major qualities of the Kuwaiti society is its religious tolerance.”

The lawmaker said there was a need to amend the law “in order to do away with claims that the Nationality Law carries the suspicion of religious discrimination.”

“Scrapping the requirement of religion does not mean granting Kuwaiti citizenship to anyone who is not Muslim and who does not fulfil the requirements. It is highly significant not to lose experts and force them to leave Kuwait due to their different religions,” he added.

In December 2014, Nabeel Al Fadhl, an independent MP who died in his seat during a parliament session in December 2015, said that the condition was a constitutional and legal stigma.

‘A disgrace’

“Those who added this condition to the Nationality Law in 1981 are lawmakers who did not rise to the significance of their oath as they were sworn in as members of parliament,” he said. “Such an article is a disgrace to the law and does not in any way reflect the values of the Kuwaiti people.”

The Muslim-only restriction was reportedly introduced in 1981 by MPs Ahmad Al Saadoon, Mohammad Al Marshad and Mohammad Al Rasheed.

In January 2014, MP Safa Al Hashem suggested cancelling the condition that restricts naturalisation to Muslims, saying that it was not in line with the text and spirit of the constitution.

Kuwait has a total population of 4.4 million, but only 1.4 million are native Kuwaitis, mostly Muslims. Around 250 Kuwaitis are Christians who were granted nationality before the article restricting naturalisation to Muslims was introduced. They are mainly from Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine.

The Nationality Law was among the first laws in Kuwait and was promulgated in 1959, two years before the country’s independence.