By Onnik Krikorian

Since hundreds of Kuwait's 100,000 strong Bidoun were attacked by police for protesting in support of others detained earlier in the year, a number of bloggers and international organizations have been stepping up their support for the stateless people in the hope of drawing attention to their plight. The United Nations, for example, launched its own campaign to end the ‘limbo” facing stateless people in August.

Bidoun may be lacking certain legal documents or may have failed to register as citizens when Kuwait became independent in 1961.

“Apart from the misery caused to the people themselves, the effect of marginalizing whole groups of people across generations creates great stress in the societies they live in and is sometimes a source of conflict,” Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was quoted as saying in reference to the Bidoun.

Since then, many have also paid tribute to Bidoun activist; Refugees International reports that Global Voices Author Mona Kareem recently spoke at the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC:

[…] it was the testimony of three female statelessness advocates that most moved participants. Mona Kareem, a member of Kuwait's stateless bidoun community, told the audience that despite the hardships she had faced because of her status - harassment, legal troubles, travel restrictions - she was “the luckiest of my community.”

“Many of my friends could only hope to marry a good husband,” who might provide them with Kuwaiti citizenship, “or for death to take them away by committing suicide.” She added, “None of them have hope. None of them even use the word ‘hope'. Bidoun women have to confront both the conservatism of their community and the injustice of their country.”

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