Bedouns apply for ‘birth certificates’
Arab Times
KUWAIT CITY, March 21:
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has started receiving birth certificate applications from Bedouns, reports Al-Seyassah daily quoting Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Abdulkareem Ja’afar.
Affirming the ministry intends to issue 40 birth certificates a day, Ja’afar said the submission of application forms will end after two weeks. He explained the officials register applications alphabetically to ensure smooth processing. He also advised the applicants to submit copies of birth notification, security card and marriage contract.
Ja’afar disclosed the procedure went well on the first day, except a few people who did not follow the alphabetical system.
He said the ministry will later collate the documents and send them to the central authority, which will issue birth certificates to qualified applicants.
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Okay, how jacked up is this “issue birth certificates to qualified applicants”. Qualified for what? To be born?? WTF. Yet another example of why the Bedoun issue needs to be resolved. They can’t even get birth certificates and need to be QUALIFIED to get one. You can’t get a piece of paper saying where and when you were BORN? PA-phuckin-THETIC.
And what if someone doesn’t follow the alphabetical system? Are they disqualified?
And Arab Times - WTF is up with the apostrophes????
Kuwait Times
Under Article Titled: Al-Salem denies rumors of tensions in ruling family
… Sheikh Ahmed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah….
Commenting on the bedoon issue, Al-Salem refused the name (what name? Bedoun? Kuwait Times....) and insisted on calling them non-Kuwaitis. "We all came to Kuwait and were not Kuwaiti in the first place," he said. "We later on became Kuwaitis after we showed our devotion and dedication to this land. Those people will have to prove their dedication and devotion as well." He concluded by saying that true bedoons did not participate in recent demonstrations.
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I prefer the name "Non-Kuwaiti" to "Illegal Resident" on documentation (although I still don't like "Non-Kuwaiti" Perhaps just "non-documented resident" would be more politically correct for now). How can you issue official, governmental documents to people and then put a phrase on there that states, "Illegal"? Nonsensical conflict of terminology.
Sheikh Ahmed is correct: No one in Kuwait came from Kuwait. Everyone in Kuwait is from somewhere else. Most people in Kuwait have origins from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, or Iran. There is evidence that humans existed in Kuwait tens of thousands of years ago, but that was before there were names for land. Greeks were here too on Failaka - 325 to 150 BC I believe. Are their descendants qualified to get nationality? I think that the nomads that settled in Kuwait during those times probably didn't show a dedication to the Kuwait, but were more likely here out of a necessity for survival and food.
I read in Al-Watan that the certificate issue is because the government has certificates that shows the real nationality of Bedoun, but the Bedoun refused to use it, which put a stop to the process.
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should not charge Bedoun the DNA test charges so that no excuses are used in both parties.
Again, don't believe everything you read in the newspaper or out of the mouths of politicians.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the DNA tests. And GIVE the bedoon who took the DNA tests the results; they PAID for them!
The DNA test has been there for ages. What use to take 6months a decade ago now takes 2weeks. The whole point of the test is to figure out your origins. Let every Kuwaiti take the DNA test and non will be traced to Kuwait's origin. In other words, there is no such thing as a Kuwaiti!
ReplyDeleteI'm a Bidun, and I've took the DNA test. It wasn't to trace my origin, rather it was to make sure if my mum, a Kuwaiti, is actually my mum! I'm 26, and it has been 5 years since I've launched my citizenship application, and I've received nothing in the end.
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@DG I'm currently studying in Australia, and you've mentioned your Bidun friends who applied for a political asylum in the US and Australia. Would you mind asking what can I do to apply for one? I'd be eternally grateful!