By Mark Tran

The plight of biduns in Kuwait, one of the world's richest states, has been particularly acute since the 1980s. Until then, they enjoyed the same access to social and public services as citizens, except for voting rights. But policy hardened in the 1980s after a series of terrorist attacks. The government removed their access to government schools, free healthcare and certain government jobs amid official claims that the vast majority of the bidun were nationals of neighbouring countries who had destroyed their documents in the hope of claiming the benefits of Kuwaiti citizenship.

In February and March, hundreds of bidun protested at Kuwait's failure to act on their citizenship applications. In response, the government promised some new benefits, including birth, marriage and death certificates, free healthcare and improved access to jobs. If implemented, these would be positive steps, Human Rights Watch said in a report in June. But it would leave the root cause of their condition - their citizenship claims - unchanged.

"Denying bidun basic identification documents on the basis of secret evidence that they have other nationality is as arbitrary as it is unfair," said HRW. "The Kuwaiti government's policy to make bidun invisible doesn't make the bidun problem go away, but it does bring suffering and exclusion to vulnerable people."

Women are particularly affected. Kuwaiti women who marry bidun men cannot pass on Kuwaiti nationality to their children as nationality is passed on by the men, so their children could grow up to be stateless. Their work prospects are also bleak, according to a report by Refugees International, released on Monday.

"Bidun women have few prospects for employment. Largely restricted to low-paying jobs with no security, those who do find employment typically work in nurseries, daycare or as secretaries, and earn a fraction of what Kuwaiti women in the same position earn," the report said.

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