O Leadership … be fair to children of Kuwaiti women

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NATURALIZATION of the children of Kuwaiti women is a humanitarian step in the right direction. It is indeed the right thing to do.

It is enough that this oppression is being practiced against a group of Kuwaiti women, their children, and their husbands who were born and have lived on this land, and do not know anywhere else as their homeland. In fact, most of them had contributed to the renaissance of Kuwait.

In most countries of the world, there are laws to grant citizenship to residents, especially those who provide great services, or are born on its land, or marry women or men of the country.

As for children, citizenship is granted to them immediately upon birth. In fact, a newborn citizen can grant the right of residence to his/her parents immediately. All of these constitute an added value to the national economy and the renaissance of the state.

It is enough to take the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as an example. He was born to parents of Indian origin. Also, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is of Pakistani origin. We have not heard of racist criticism about their origins.

Let’s consider a Kuwaiti woman who married a foreign man and has children, and lived all her life in her homeland. If her husband dies, or divorces her and leaves the country, does she not have the right to be reassured about her fate and the fate of her children, and ensure they turn into productive elements for Kuwait, especially if there is a doctor, engineer, technician and even a worker among them? And if some of them are outlaws, we need to study the circumstances that led them to do so.

What do you expect from a person whose path has been closed to all means, and who has been prevented from work, medical care and education, and even from obtaining a source of living? Undoubtedly, strictness in granting citizenship has no logical basis, except for the view based on appropriating all the privileges granted to the citizens.

If we look at the matter from another perspective, these people can be granted citizenship and identity, but without any privileges except for freedom of movement and work. We thus would not be treating the error with a greater error than it.

The scourge of Kuwait is extremism in everything, even though it is a society of moderation. Because of this, there is no realistic vision to address the problems … It is either our way or the highway.

That is why there are those who view the citizenship law as sacred and untouchable. On the other hand, some Arabian Gulf countries have amended their laws in line with the development of the times, becoming more humane, and attracting the best minds. There are even Bedoun residents who were born in Kuwait and educated in its schools; some of them had graduated from its universities. Under pressure from the authorities, they were forced to leave the country and immigrate to European countries and some Gulf countries, where they shined and showed a lot of creativity.

It is true that there are shortcomings in the naturalization processes that have occurred in recent years, but they should not rise to the level of stifling others.

Therefore, the matter is in the hands of the leadership who seek everything that is in the interest of the country and the people in order to put this problem in front of their eyes, and do justice to those whose racist view – which has prevailed in recent times – has been a source of injustice to them, and indeed to Kuwait as well.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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