KUWAIT CITY, Jan 22: Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hamoud should address the problems of Bedouns in accordance with the reports and studies completed in the previous period, candidate from the Second Constituency Nasser Al-Abdali said Sunday.

Al-Abdali pointed out the minister should prioritize the case of Bedouns whose citizenship applications were rejected in the 1960s as per the provisions of Article Two. He argued the documents for this segment are ready and all that is left to be done is for the minister to approve it to end the decades-long suffering of these Bedouns. He said those who have Kuwaiti first-degree relatives, those included in the 1965 Census and those who meet all the naturalization conditions must be granted citizenship. He added the approval of the citizenship applications of these people will definitely douse the tension currently witnessed in the country.

On the other hand, Al-Abdali asserted those children born to Kuwaiti women whose husbands are dead or got divorced are just few, so it is also proper to line them up for naturalization to end the dilemma of their mothers. He suggested the other categories of Bedouns qualified for citizenship must be studied individually to find lasting solutions to their problems. He believes this step will give these people an assurance that their future is safe and that the government will exhaust all means to help them.
Blaming the successive governments for the worsening problems of Bedouns, Al-Abdali said it is now time for the executive authority to take concrete steps to resolve the issue. “It is a shame that a group of individuals, who has nothing to do with the previous incidents, suffer the brunt of the negligence of certain people. Some of these problems date back several decades ago and now the third generation still has no information on their supposed benefits due to the absence of proper awareness mechanism,” he lamented.

Al-Abdali concluded the humanitarian history of Kuwait requires everyone to work seriously on the closure of the Bedoun file, because failure to do so will lead to dire consequences that might negatively affect the future of the country.

In another development, former MP and candidate from the First Constituency Faisal Al-Duwaisan has asked the government to strictly implement the Kuwaitization policy in public institutions. He explained the country continues to grapple with the rising unemployment rate as seen in the large number of jobless citizens, particularly the youths, registered in the Civil Service Commission (CSC) waiting for employment. He contended this is wrong especially since a number of ministries and other government departments have appointed expatriate workers to posts that would have been given to Kuwaiti youths. He clarified there is nothing wrong in hiring expatriates but this should be limited to the experts or only if there are no nationals with the required field of specialization.

Al-Duwaisan added the Kuwaitization policy has been a failure, considering the rising unemployment rate among the Kuwaiti youths. He said this is a clear manifestation that the government has erred in its plan to eliminate unemployment. “If we make it to the next Parliament, we will closely follow up this issue and demand for solutions,” he asserted

Furthermore, the Administrative Court on Sunday dismissed the lawsuit filed by a group of voters in the Second Constituency, demanding the removal of Khalaf Dumaitheer from the roster of candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections due to his alleged involvement in a bank fraud case.