WUNRN
BIDOON / BIDUN People "Without
Nationality"- Arab
Bidun jinsiya (or bidoon jinsiya) is an Arabic term meaning "without nationality." Usually referred to simply as bidun (بِدون), the term refers to the stateless people of certain Bedouin tribes whose members were not granted citizenship, and so are seriously legally disadvantaged in comparison with the regular citizens of these countries.
Biduns may be people who did not fill in proper paperwork (perhaps due to illiteracy, xenophobia or ignorance) prior to 1920, have illegally entered these nations to avoid poverty or war, or those who have settled there since 1920 but who have not been recognized by the state. They are not afforded the rights of a full citizen of the country. The children of bidun fathers are themselves considered bidun.
Before 1990, the majority of bidun were Bedouin settlers from the northern Arabian Peninsula. Following the invasion of Iraq, a third of the 300,000 bidun living in Kuwait before the invasion either fled to Iraq or produce proofs showing their citizenships (mostly Saudi or Syrian). Many Bidun succumbed to the Government's pressure and produce mostly faked passports from other nations to allow them to get a job or simply reside in the county. Most of the Bidun people are not allowed to work, obtain a drivers license, or are allowed to travel as they lack any travel documents.
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Bidoon Women & Girls
http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=419090&news_type=Top&lang=en
Still No Place to Call Home for Arab Bidoon
Agence France-Presse - 27 July, 2008
Thousands
of stateless Arab families known as bidoon hoped a bizarre application for
citizenship of the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros might mean an end
to their legal limbo.
But sadly for the 4,000 families residing in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates, their bid for Comoran nationality was refused this week
at a stormy session of parliament on the main island of Grande-Comore.
The Comoran government had billed it as a programme aimed at "attracting
foreign investors", a "naturalisation" that would bring in at
least 100 million dollars (63.8 million euros) to the impoverished island
chain.
The lawmaker who introduced the bill, Assumani Yusuf Mondoha, described it as
an "economic citizenship programme aimed at naturalising adult
'investors'."
But the Comoran opposition vigorously attacked the project, charging that it
amounted to "auctioning off our nationality".
Vice President Ibrahim Mohamed Sidi denounced the "greed" of a
government ready to "sell Comoran citizenship to countries from the Gulf
who want to free themselves of families that had become an incumbrance."
According to the Comoran government, the project "was initiated following
meetings at the highest level between the Emir of Kuwait (Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad
al-Sabah) and President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi."
But the bill, which prescribed for Comoran nationality to be conferred upon
families "without obligation of habitual residence in the Comoros,"
was rejected late Thursday at an extraordinary session of the islands'
assembly.
Several lawmakers had supported the proposals, arguing that most bidoon
families find themselves in an extremely irregular situation.
Bidoon, from the Arabic "bidoon jinsiya" meaning without nationality,
describes a stateless people of certain bedouin tribes whose members have not
been granted citizenship in their home countries.
The plight of the bidoon in Kuwait, which number 70,000 according to the
government and up to 120,000 according to rights activists, has received most
recognition.
They have no right to work, obtain a birth certificate for their babies or even
get their marriage certificate attested.
A rough estimate by the NGO Refugees International put the bidoon population in
the UAE at 100,000, but officials give a figure of only 10,000.
Bidoons in the UAE are allowed to work, but they have no passports.
The NGO had no figures for bidoon in Saudi Arabia, but says they are also not
entitled to Saudi passports.
Oil-rich Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been among the main economic
partners and political allies of the Comoros since President Sambi came to
power in 2006.
The Comoros, comprised of Grande-Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, is a very poor
Indian Ocean archipelago where civil servants are owed five months of back-pay
this year and where fuel and electricity shortages are commonplace.
Ninety-eight percent of the 700,000 inhabitants in the Comoros' three islands
are Muslims.
Known locally as "ayatollah", the turban-wearing Sambi studied Islam
in Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Iran and often leads Friday prayers.
"I believe in an Islamic regime," Sambi said after his election,
adding however that the union's economic situation -- it is considered one of
the world's poorest countries -- did not allow the immediate creation of an
Islamic state.
The Comoros has in recent weeks and months launched a crackdown on "loose
morals", prompting concern among women and intellectuals that the
archipelago was poised to become a Sharia state.
In the name of the preservation of "the Comoran identity", Minister
for Islamic Affairs Mmadi Ali has spearheaded a drive to impose curbs on
immodest clothing among women, the sale of alcohol and teenage parties.
The authorities have banned large festive gatherings such as birthday parties
or end-of-year school bashes, arguing that they led to depraved behaviour among
the country's youth.