Gulf States

Bahrain is not a party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (the 1954 Convention), nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (the 1961 Convention). Bahrain does not have domestic legislation on refugees.

Nevertheless, Bahrain has taken many positive steps in the past by giving citizenship to many Bidoons. For instance, in 2008, 7,012 people were naturalized, including many Bidoons. But here, it’s worth noting that since naturalization is a voluntary act with fewer rights attached to naturalized citizenship, this is not the only solution to Biddoon’s statelessness.

The government has long used citizenship deprivation as a means of retaliation against activists and opposition leaders. The rate of deprivation has risen sharply since the 2011 protest movement, especially after 2015. Many of those who were deprived of their nationalities are Shia Muslims, including activists, journalists, and some of the community’s most influential religious leaders. These arbitrary deprivation of citizenship for people exercising their rights to free speech, belief, and association are leading to the emergence of new cases of statelessness.

Like other countries in the region, Bahrain also denies women the right to confer their nationality to their children in most circumstances but keeps some exceptions, such as when the father is stateless or unknown. In some cases, nationality may be granted to the children of female citizens by application, however, this is done on a case-by-case basis and women’s ability to confer nationality on their children is not considered a right.

It is also complicated for people in Kuwait to naturalize and obtain Kuwaiti nationality. The country’s naturalization conditions are quite strict. One of the requirements is that the person spends at least 15 to 20 years in Kuwait. The applicant should either be a Muslim by birth or have converted to Islam for at least five years prior to filing the naturalization application. Kuwait also forbids dual nationality, meaning someone who wishes to naturalize as a Kuwaiti must give up their previous citizenship.

What’s also worth noting related to statelessness in Kuwait is the issue of Bedoons. The precise size of the Bidoon population in Kuwait is unknown, but UNHCR estimated it to exceed 93,000 in 2018. The case of these Bidoon populations is a bit complicated and has differed all over the years. This population had no nationality before 1958. Until 1986, they were treated without any sort of discrimination; they could attend university, work, as if they had a nationality. However, everything changed after that as they lost all their rights. The Kuwaiti government believes that 68,000 from the total number are not Kuwaiti’s or Bedoon, and that they intended to, lose their documentation for them to benefit from the rights of the Kuwaiti nationals, especially after discovering the oil.

After the Arab Spring in 2011, Bedoons in Kuwait demonstrated asking for their rights. The government responded to these demonstrations by promising to provide them with some rights. Many believe that they were granted these rights for almost two years but after some years, everything changed. In 2014, Kuwait suggested that these Bedoons can pay money and get the Komor ID, like what the United Arab Emirates did. But after rejections from the Bedoons, the government didn’t proceed with implementation.

Moreover, Qatar denies women the right to confer nationality to their children and spouses in all circumstances even if this would result in statelessness. As for dual nationality, Qatar took steps to re-attribute citizenship to the vast majority of the individuals who were dual nationals. These are believed to have been dual nationals prior to the withdrawal of their Qatari citizenship, meaning that statelessness will not have resulted. However, it is possible that some were rendered stateless by this act of deprivation.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not a state party to either the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

In 2014, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia introduced new steps to allow children to apply for nationality based on maternal descent on a discretionary basis. But the laws in the kingdom deny women the right to confer their nationality to children in most circumstances, but maintain some exceptions, such as when the father is stateless or unknown. Nationality can be given to the children of female citizens upon qualification in certain circumstances. However, nationality is granted on a case-by-case basis, and women’s ability to confer nationality on their children is not considered a right.

The UAE is also not a state party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Yet, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tried to reduce statelessness by implementing some measures.

In 2006, the UAE government released orders to find solutions for 10,000 registered stateless persons, which resulted in the naturalization of nearly 1,300 people. In 2008, the UAE government paid the Comoros government $ 200 million as part of a covert scheme to give Bidoon citizenship to Comoros. That year, the Ministry of Interior has also announced the start of a two-month registration campaign for the country’s stateless people, as well as the establishment of four registration centers in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman. After filling out comprehensive applications detailing why they should be awarded UAE citizenship at registration centers, the authorities make the final decision regarding granting the nationality and naturalization.

Furthermore, in 2011 and 2017, the UAE introduced some partial measures to allow children to apply for nationality based on maternal descent on a discretionary basis. In general, the UAE denies women the right to confer their nationality to children in most cases but maintains some exceptions, such as when the father is stateless or unknown. Nationality may be granted to the children of female citizens of these countries in some circumstances by application, however, nationality is granted by the state on a case-by-case basis and women’s ability to confer nationality on their children is not considered a right.