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Kuwait: Update to Response to Information Request KWT19836.E of 31 March 1995 on birth certificates issued to Bedoons in the 1970s

In a telephone interview on 5 April 1995, a representative of the Kuwaiti Association to Defend War Victims (KADWV), a non-governmental Kuwaiti organization in Washington, DC, stated that the birth certificates that were issued by the Kuwaiti authorities in the 1970s did not mention nationality. The source added that birth certificates issued before 1967 included reference to nationality (ibid.). In the case of Bedoons, this reference to nationality was indicated with a red line (5 Apr. 1995). However, according to an official of the Embassy of the State of Kuwait in Ottawa, since the independence of Kuwait, everyone born in Kuwait receives a birth certificate indicating that this person was born in Kuwait (10 Apr. 1995). The birth certificate also mentions the nationality of the father and the nationality of the mother. A baby's nationality follows that of the father, and therefore if the father is a Bedoon, Bedoon will be indicated underneath the reference to the father's nationality (ibid.). Corroboration of the information provided by either of these sources could not be obtained among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this information request.

Reference

Embassy of the State of Kuwait, Ottawa. 10 April 1995. Telephone interview with official.

Kuwaiti Association to Defend War Victims, Washington, DC. 5 April 1995. Telephone interview with representative.

Topics: Bedoon,