Refugees International: Articles: Refugee Voices: Detained Stateless People in Kuwait

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Refugee Voices: Detained Stateless People in Kuwait

Kuwait 2007: A Message from Jahra
09/24/2007

Stateless persons have an equal right to protection before the law, the right not to be arbitrarily arrested, subjected to inhumane treatment or torture, denied due process, subjected to forced labor or returned to a place where they would be persecuted. Throughout most of the world, however, stateless adults and children are detained for years, often indefinitely, in harsh conditions, and without access to judicial recourse. According to former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Non-citizens, David Weissbrodt:

There is a large gap between the rights that international human rights law guarantee to non-citizens and the realities they must face…The situation, however, has worsened as several countries have detained or otherwise violated the rights of non-citizens in response to fears of terrorism. Continued discriminatory treatment of non-citizens demonstrates the need for clear, comprehensive standards governing the rights of non-citizen, their implementation by States, and more effective monitoring of compliance.¹

The UNHCR Handbook for Parliamentarians² points out:

Stateless persons without a legal stay should be detained only after considering all possible alternatives. In making the exceptional decision to detain, authorities should determine whether detention is reasonable and proportional to the objectives to be achieved. If judged necessary, detention should only be imposed in a non-discriminatory manner for a minimal period of time. UNHCR can advise on these cases, if requested.

Refugees International initially became concerned about the issue of detention of stateless persons after visits to Syria and Malaysia. RI’s recent visit to Kuwait to assess the situation of bidun gave reason for further concern about the scope of the problem.

The Arabic word, “bidun,” meaning “without” and short for “bidun jinsiya” (without citizenship), is used to denote longtime residents of Kuwait who are stateless. The estimated number of bidun in Kuwait ranges from 90,000 to 130,000, less than half the number who resided in the country prior to Iraq’s invasion in 1990. Those who remain are subject to systematic discrimination, and their future is uncertain. (Please see Kuwait: State of Exclusion).

Owing to their lack of citizenship, bidun are denied access to formal employment, national health care, free education, and documents such as birth, death and marriage certificates. They are ghosts trapped in a system that affords them no protection. Many bidun have felt pressured to buy counterfeit passports from countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea and the Dominican Republic. A passport would allow the holder to obtain a five-year residence permit, like any guest worker in Kuwait. There have been instances when bidun traveling with forged documents were forcibly returned to Kuwait, and the country was compelled to admit them. Individuals with false documents who are detained can not be deported, however, because no country will take them in, and so they languish in jail.

The International Committee of the Red Cross makes regular visits to stateless persons held in the Central Prison and the Deportation Centre. Reportedly, at least four, and as many as fifteen, bidun are currently being detained due to their lack of status. One of them is a 75-year-old man, who has been held since May 1999.

In mid-July of this year, RI had the opportunity to meet with the families of two detainees and to talk with the detainees by phone.

Ahmad Meshary Jawdat is a father of seven. He is bidun, or stateless. Prior to his detention on May 5, 2004, he worked for the military. One of his daughters related the events leading up to his arrest. “After 1991, my father was dismissed from his job. To make ends meet, he started dealing in used cars. He shipped some to dealers in Iraq. There was a problem with one of his Iraqi trading partners. One day the police came to our house and spoke to my cousin. The next day they returned to the house and arrested him.”

Prior to his arrest, Mr. Jawdat had tried to leave Kuwait on a Yemeni passport. He traveled to Syria but was jailed and then sent back to Kuwait. He traveled to Yemen, as well, but was again sent back to Kuwait, because his passport was found to be counterfeit.

Mr. Jawdat is being held in a small jail cell with 14 other men, one also bidun. On the telephone, he recalled that a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross had visited him several months before.

When his family has inquired about his release, they have been told that “there is no place to send him.” The only solution for them is to “bring any passport.” Then, presumably, he would be released from detention. His family manages as best they can, relying for help on neighbors and friends.

Thirty-five-year-old Farhan Saad Farhan was taken into custody on May 3, 2006, reportedly, because police considered him a security threat. Family members reported that he had suffered bouts of mental illness and had attempted suicide on three occasions. On the day of his arrest he was disoriented and had lost his way to his sister’s home. He was arrested in the vicinity of the U.S. embassy. The only identification he carried was a counterfeit Somali passport. He was incarcerated in the Talha detention center, where foreigner prisoners are held awaiting deportation.

Mr. Farhan’s father had been a government employee for 35 years and had registered in the country’s 1965 census, a requirement for a bidun to be considered for citizenship. Nevertheless, Mr. Farhan felt compelled to obtain a counterfeit foreign passport.

While in prison, he has been hospitalized once for two weeks for a recurrence of his psychological problems. Family and friends are allowed to visit him once a week. In a telephone call, he did not complain about living conditions in the prison. “Thirty people share a 4 x 5m2 cell. We sleep on the floor and there are two toilets. The food is acceptable. There are three meals a day, and each prisoner has his own plate. We can buy sweets,” he reported. The detainees get no exercise, however, except in a corridor roughly 4 x 40m. There are no reading materials except the Koran.

The detainee’s family has been informed that he continues to be held for the sake of the “public good.” Officials have told the family that he will only be released once he furnishes a foreign passport and can be removed to that country. Until then he will remain in detention. His family insists that he is being held without any proof of wrongdoing and because he is stateless. He has been in good health recently and does not require medication. The question his family asks is “How long will he stay there, forever?”

The current situation for Mr. Jawdat and Mr. Farhan is untenable. Kuwait should address the problem of all stateless persons who are detained in the country and bring some measure of justice to these individuals and their families. Refugees International urges the government of Kuwait to refrain from arresting or detaining stateless persons solely on the basis of their being stateless and to release stateless people from detention. RI also urges the United Nations to investigate the issue through the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Senior Advocate Maureen Lynch and Consultant Patrick Barbieri assessed the situation of bidun in Kuwait in July.