UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — Concluding observations on Kuwait (CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, 2017): Bidoon, nationality law, kafalah and domestic workers

Para 27 records that Kuwait established the Central Agency for Regularization of the Status of Illegal Residents under Decree No. 467/2010, and the delegation's statements that stateless persons enjoy human rights on an equal basis with nationals of Kuwait, that many stateless persons (Bidoon) have obtained Kuwaiti nationality in recent years, and that many persons claiming to be stateless in Kuwait are in fact nationals of other countries. The Committee nevertheless "remains deeply concerned by the situation of Bidoon, many of whom have lived in Kuwait for generations but are deemed 'illegal residents' by the State party", and expresses serious concern at "persistent reports that Bidoon do not enjoy equal access to social services, due process and legally valid civil documentation, including birth registration documents" (arts. 2, 5 and 6).

Para 28, in the light of general recommendation No. 30 (2004) on discrimination against non-citizens, recommends that Kuwait: (a) find a durable solution, "including by considering naturalizing those who have lived in Kuwait for long periods and have a genuine and effective link to the State"; (b) put in place immediate administrative procedures allowing all Bidoon to obtain official documents, including birth registration documents; (c) consider residence permits and temporary legal status for all non-citizens as appropriate; (d) guarantee access to social services and education on an equal footing with nationals; (e) ensure that applications for Kuwaiti nationality are assessed through "written, reasoned decisions that may be appealed"; and (f) accede to the 1954 and 1961 statelessness conventions.

Para 42 asks Kuwait to report within one year on paragraph 28(b); para 43 lists paragraph 28(a) among the recommendations of particular importance.

USE IN A REPORT: the Committee's formal concluding observations for the 2017 reporting cycle. They record the Committee's concerns and recommendations and, separately, what Kuwait's delegation told it; cite them by symbol and paragraph (CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, para. X) and keep the two apart. Concluding observations are recommendations of a treaty body, not findings of fact in an individual case.

The observations set out the State party's statements and the Committee's concerns side by side, and the recommendations are expressed as steps for the State to consider or take. The document does not state whether Kuwait reported on paragraph 28(b) within the year requested; the August 2026 review recorded elsewhere in this collection (BRF-C0EE91AF) belongs to the following reporting cycle.

Para 31: "While noting the State party's position regarding the sovereign nature of nationality issues, the Committee remains concerned that the Nationality Act does not allow Kuwaiti women who marry foreigners to pass on their nationality to their children and spouses on an equal footing with Kuwaiti men" (arts. 2 and 5). Para 32 reiterates the Committee's earlier recommendation (CERD/C/KWT/15-20, para. 18) that the Nationality Act be modified accordingly.

USE IN A REPORT: the Committee's formal concluding observations for the 2017 reporting cycle. They record the Committee's concerns and recommendations and, separately, what Kuwait's delegation told it; cite them by symbol and paragraph (CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, para. X) and keep the two apart. Concluding observations are recommendations of a treaty body, not findings of fact in an individual case.

The paragraph describes the Nationality Act as it stood in 2017. Amendments made after that date are outside the document and should be checked against the current text of the Act before the observation is relied on for a present-day position.

Paras 21–22: the Committee "remains deeply concerned by the continued application of the sponsorship (kafalah) system", which it considers "places many foreign workers in a highly dependent relationship with their employers, rendering them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse", and reiterates its recommendation to abolish it in favour of government-issued residency permits and to guarantee family reunification.

Paras 23–24: the Committee welcomes Law No. 68 (2015) on domestic workers and the complaints mandate of the Department of Domestic Labour, but is concerned by reports of physical, verbal and sexual abuse, by the lack of information on the outcome of complaints, by employers being allowed to retain workers' identity documents with their consent ("workers' consent may not be freely given"), by the State party's own figure that in 2015 the Department received "2,487 complaints demanding the return of passports", and by domestic workers in disputes being "often deported by administrative decisions, without a reasoned court order or possibility of appeal". It recommends enforced penalties, investigation and prosecution of abuse, review of administrative deportation with referral to the courts and a right of appeal, and statistics on complaints.

Paras 25–26: concern that many foreign workers are not informed of their rights or of avenues of redress, contracts being translated into Arabic and English only; recommendations on information in workers' own languages, complaints without fear of reprisals, and a copy of the contract in a language the worker understands.

USE IN A REPORT: the Committee's formal concluding observations for the 2017 reporting cycle. They record the Committee's concerns and recommendations and, separately, what Kuwait's delegation told it; cite them by symbol and paragraph (CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, para. X) and keep the two apart. Concluding observations are recommendations of a treaty body, not findings of fact in an individual case.

The figure of 2,487 complaints in 2015 is attributed by the Committee to information provided by the State party itself. The concerns about abuse are expressed as concern at reports received; the observations do not determine individual cases.

Para 29: noting the delegation's statements that protests organised by Bidoon had disturbed the peace, the Committee expresses alarm at reports that such protests "have been met with excessive force and arbitrary arrest", that several Bidoon rights defenders have been harassed and detained in connection with their advocacy, and that release of some detainees has been conditioned on a written pledge not to take part in protests again. Para 30 recommends prompt investigation of allegations of excessive force, arbitrary detention, deterrence of lawful protest, ill-treatment and torture of human rights defenders, including stateless individuals, and statistics on investigations, prosecutions and sanctions.

Paras 33–34: Kuwait is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention; refugees deemed not lawfully staying face daily overstay fines unless they leave. The Committee reiterates that the Ministry of the Interior should annul those fines, recommends full application of the principle of non-refoulement, and encourages ratification of the Convention and its 1967 Protocol.

USE IN A REPORT: the Committee's formal concluding observations for the 2017 reporting cycle. They record the Committee's concerns and recommendations and, separately, what Kuwait's delegation told it; cite them by symbol and paragraph (CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, para. X) and keep the two apart. Concluding observations are recommendations of a treaty body, not findings of fact in an individual case.

Paragraph 29 records the Committee's alarm at reports it received and the delegation's account of the protests; it contains no finding of fact on any individual arrest or detention.

Positive aspects (paras 4–6): article 1 of Legislative Decree No. 19 (2012) prohibiting advocacy or incitement of hatred for any social group; Law No. 68 (2015) on domestic workers and the 2014 shelter for female workers; Law No. 91 (2013) on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants; the 2010 Central Agency; accession to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (22 August 2013).

Concerns and recommendations: no data disaggregated by ethnicity (paras 7–8); national legislation lacks a definition of racial discrimination in conformity with article 1 of the Convention and does not expressly prohibit direct and indirect discrimination (paras 9–10); the national human rights institution created by Law No. 67 (2015) (Diwan Huquq al-Insan) was not yet operational and the Law did not require conformity with the Paris Principles (paras 11–12); lack of information on the application of Decree No. 19 (2012), and "a rise in hate speech directed at foreign workers, including by a member of Parliament" (paras 13–14); lack of detail on implementation of Law No. 91 (2013) (paras 15–16); Law No. 15 (1979) on the civil service not amended to prohibit discrimination on grounds of sex, origin, language and religion (paras 17–18); unclear domestic judicial application of the Convention (paras 19–20).

USE IN A REPORT: the Committee's formal concluding observations for the 2017 reporting cycle. They record the Committee's concerns and recommendations and, separately, what Kuwait's delegation told it; cite them by symbol and paragraph (CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, para. X) and keep the two apart. Concluding observations are recommendations of a treaty body, not findings of fact in an individual case.

The observation that the national human rights institution was not yet operational describes its position in 2017; the document does not address its later establishment or functioning.