Stateless in the Gulf

The Kuwaiti population includes around 100,000 people - approximately 10 per cent of the Kuwaiti nationals -whose legal status is contested. Often considered `stateless'', they have come to be known in Kuwait as biduns, from `bidun jinsiyya'', which means literally `without nationality'' in Arabic. As long-term residents with close geographical ties and intimate cultural links to the emirate, the ...