GLOBAL REVIEW OF STATELESSNESS
MIDDLE EAST In addition to numerous smaller groups of stateless people, three major stateless populations are dispersed throughout the region -- the Kurds, the Palestinians, and the Bidoon. Kurds number between 25 and 30 million, and more than half of the Kurdish population resides in Turkey. Others are in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Armenia. Tens of thousands of them in Syria and Lebanon lack citizenship. Libya and Tunisia are the only countries party to the international regime on stateless persons. Legal status for Palestinians throughout the region is fragile. Arab host states adopted policies and procedures such as the Casablanca Protocol, aimed at preserving the Palestinian identity of individuals and their status as refugees. The living conditions for Palestinians differ dramatically depending on their place of residence. * Bahrain
* Iran *
Iraq
* Israel/Palestine
*
* Jordan * Kuwait * Lebanon * Saudi Arabia * * Syria * United Arab Emirates * Bahrain The Bidoon, a group of approximately 9,000-15,000 stateless persons, were granted citizenship during 2001, leaving some 1,300 still stateless. Iran In Iran, large numbers of Kurds lack nationality. The UNHCR estimated there were 450,000 to 510,000 Iraqi Kurds in the country at the end of 2001. Many of the Iraqi refugees were expelled by Iraq at the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war because of their suspected Iranian origin. In numerous instances, both the Iraqi and Iranian Governments disputed their citizenship, rendering many of them stateless. At the beginning of 2003, there were more than 200,000 Iraqi refugees in Iran, a small percentage of who are Faili Kurds that lost their nationality and were forced from Iraq. Iraq There are no accurate estimates for the number of Palestinian refugees in Iraq, though the number is believed to be 34,000. They came in several waves, in 1948 and again after the 1991 Gulf War. The Palestinians never became Iraqi citizens, however. They were provided with refugee travel documents. Legal restrictions prevented them from buying homes and cars. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Palestinians were displaced by an inability to pay new, higher rents imposed by Iraqi landlords who, under the former regime, were forced to accept below-market-value rental fees from Palestinians; or forced from government-subsidized housing, and 1,100 Palestinian families found themselves homeless. Israel/Palestine The single largest population of Palestinians is found in the lands which constituted British Mandate of Palestine (3,299,000 in West Bank and Gaza Strip; 1,013,000 in Israel). While the Palestinian population technically has had a state since the approval of UN General Assembly Resolution 1981 (1947), millions of Palestinians have been unable to return to their homes, and their legal status has constantly been disputed by Israel, in over half of the cases leaving them stateless. The situation of refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, where population density and unemployment is very high, are particularly harsh. Jordan According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), all Palestinians in Jordan have Jordanian citizenship with the exception of about 100,000 refugees originally from the Gaza Strip, which up to 1967 was administered by Egypt. Kuwait Bidoon (Arabic meaning without nationality) and Palestinians are stateless in Kuwait. There are between 110,000 and 120,000 stateless Bidoon in Kuwait. Many have lived in Kuwait their entire lives, but Kuwait reserves full citizenship rights for those who established residence in the country prior to 1920. In some cases, residence prior to 1920 was not sufficient for acquisition of nationality. Children born to mothers who are widows or divorcees of Bidoon men, are not accorded citizenship. After the Iraqi invasion in 1991, the government harassed and deported many Bidoon to Iraq. Many remain stateless. In May 2000, parliament voted to ease the citizenship requirements for about 36,000 Bidoon who registered in a 1965 census. However, it limited the number of that group who could naturalize to no more than 2,000 per year. To regularize their status, Bidoon obtained passports from foreign diplomatic representations to regularize their status and stay in Kuwait. Often such passports are not renewed once expired. Kuwait then lowered the cap to only 600 persons in 2002, subsequently relaxing it to 5,500. Citizenship was approved for 400 Bidoon who fought against Iraq during the 1991 invasion of Kuwait. If approved, naturalization of Bidoon killed in action would allow surviving family to become Kuwaiti citizens. The Bidoon in Kuwait are not allowed to work or to receive welfare services. Security ID had been taken from the majority of them leaving them no access to public health care. They are banned from travel. Bidoon children may be denied birth certificates needed to attend school. Before the 1990 Iraqi invasion, there were several hundred thousand Palestinians in Kuwait. Though they had played a key role in building modern Kuwait, most were expelled or pressured to leave. Gazans who carried Egyptian travel documents had nowhere to go because Egypt denied them entry. Now there are approximately 30,000 to 40,000 Palestinian residents in Kuwait who do not have access to citizenship. Lebanon Palestinians. The number of Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon is nearly 400,000, or an estimated 10 percent of the population. Palestinians are forbidden to become Lebanese citizens. They do not have social and civil rights, and have limited access to governmental public health or education facilities, and no access to public social services. The majority rely entirely on UNRWA for education, health, relief, and social services. Palestinian refugees are prohibited from working in more than 70 trades and professions. This has led to a very high rate of unemployment. A 1994 law allowed some Palestinians to apply for citizenship, but few people were aware of this chance. Also, women cannot give their citizenship to their children. If they are Lebanese and marry a Palestinian, their children are not Lebanese citizens. Men, on the other hand, are allowed to transfer their citizenship. Kurds. Lebanon is home to a few thousand Kurds live without citizenship despite decades of family linage in the country. The precise Kurdish population in Lebanon is very difficult to attain in light of the absence of a census. However, current population estimates are mostly below or around 60,000. Up until the mid-1990s, the large majority of this population was without citizenship. A naturalization decree was issued in June 1994, whereby 10,000 to 18,000 Lebanese Kurds acquired citizenship. Unfortunately, an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Kurds were unable to join due to factors including cost and inability to return to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia Stateless Bidoon are not given passports. Also, citizenship is not granted to children of Saudi women married to non-nationals. Palestinians in Saudi Arabia, who number about 287,000, mostly have legal residence status only. They are not assisted or formally recognized as refugees by the UN. Syria Kurds and Palestinians are stateless in Syria. Kurds. The government discriminates against the stateless Kurdish minority. In 2000, UNHCR reported that there were more than 120,000 Kurds of the million and a half living in Syria, still without citizenship. They have received red identity documents preventing them from voting, owning land, practicing certain professions, receiving food subsidies, being admitted to public hospitals, or having legally recognized marriages to Syrian citizens. Usually the children or grandchildren of a foreign father or parents, have no documents at all. According to the Human Rights Watch, the maktoum children population is growing rapidly. These children do not have any rights and are generally not permitted in schools. When the Kurdish children do receive a diploma, they are considered inferior and further education is impossible. According to the Kurdish Human Rights Project, the Syrian government monitors the Kurdish community closely and even Kurdish culture celebrations are forbidden. The U.S. Department of State acknowledges that the Kurdish activists are being tortured and imprisoned, and human rights violations against the Kurds are carried out. Due to international pressure, in 2003 the Syrian president announced that the needs of the stateless population would be studied and addressed. In March 2004, however, an attack on the Kurds in Qamishli was organized. Some 20 to 50 individuals were killed and more than 1,500 others were arrested. Palestinians. In Syria, nearly 400,000 Palestinian refugees are not eligible for citizenship, though they can work and have access to government services. The vast majority of these individuals are registered and receive support from the UNRWA. In addition UNRWA-registered refugees, there are another 75,000 unregistered Palestinians living under difficult conditions throughout the country. Some 260 stateless asylum seekers, including Palestinians who fled Iraq, reside in UNHCR camps. United Arab Emirates The UAE also has a population of a roughly estimated 100,000 stateless Bidoon. Despite the fact many of these individuals were born in the U.E., they are not considered to be citizens. In1996, the U.S. Committee for Refugees reported that the UAE hosted a small group of stateless persons from Zanzibar. Also, a child born to an Emirati, whether father or mother, is automatically considered a citizen, but new proposals would limit that right to those born to Emirati fathers. It would mean that an Emirati woman divorcing a foreign husband would find it almost impossible to win custody of her children, but if the court grants custody to the wife, her children could, technically, be stateless. |
Nationality: A Fundamental Human Right No Right to Reside: Conditions that Create Statelessness No Country to Call Home: The Scope of Statelessness Whose Job Is It Anyway? UNHCR’s Second Mandate “Citizen,
Third Class”: Findings from RI’s Statelessness Project Global Review of Statelessness --------------- |
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