02/07/2005

In the United Arab Emirates, the Bidoon (or persons without nationality) are represented by two major groups, Arabs (from neighboring countries) and non-Arabs (mainly from Iran and the Indian Sub-Continent) whose families settled in the Gulf generations ago as merchants or workers. Exact numbers of the Bidoon are not generally known, but they have been unofficially estimated at about 100,000. While these individuals are not subject to deportation by the authorities, they do face discrimination in the labor market and, as a result, encounter socio-economic challenges. The Bidoon have limited access to medical care and education, and without passports and other basic identity documents, are restricted in their movement both within the country and internationally. Refugees International recently returned from the UAE where we met and talked with Kamal, a Bidoon from Ra's al Khaimah.

At age thirty-one, Kamal is one of the few Bidoon willing to talk about what it is like to be stateless in the UAE. "What have we done to be treated like animals?" he asks. We can't get a job and can't move. We are between the earth and the sky, like a boat without a port."

The struggles of the Bidoon are not limited to employment and travel. "Access to education is also a problem," Kamal says, "I didn't finish high school or go to university." Then he talked about his dream to learn more English and start a trading company. The Bidoon can seek health care at private hospitals, but not at government ones. In Kamal's case, not being able to travel outside the UAE for specialized medical services meant that a treatable condition became a permanent disability.

While many of the Bidoon are able to find work as drivers or mechanics, others survive by begging, an illegal activity in the UAE. Kamal says his brother "got a chance" and works for a company. His sisters have tried to deal with their citizenship status problem by marrying local men. Fifteen years from now they will be able to claim Emirati citizenship for themselves. "They have solved their problem," Kamal claims, "and their children have local nationality." Then reflecting on the overall situation for Bidoon in the UAE," Kamal says, "We need pressure from the outside to resolve the problem."