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A young bedoon
who committed suicide in Kuwait last week sparked a media uproar and
controversy on social media. It is regrettable that this issue negatively
affected Kuwait and key officials who are doing their job. Some tweets, calls
and visits seemed like foreign intervention in an internal matter. For all
these reasons, I feel a few things must be clarified.
The bedoon man
committed suicide by hanging himself with a rope in his room. The suicide led
some to launch negative comments and even accusations against Kuwait. I would
like to clarify that suicide is forbidden by Islam and the law because it is a
crime against oneself. Therefore, suicide should not be justified, because
there might be other reasons that we don't know about that took this man down
this road.
The interior
ministry released a statement saying that investigations conducted by
specialized security authorities showed that the deceased was a drug addict.
The statement added that 12 cases of misdemeanors, drug-related crimes and
forced robbery were recorded against him, pointing out that he was arrested on
May 11, 2019 by the general security on charges of possessing narcotic
substances and was transferred to state custody.
This incident
also provoked several reactions, including criticism by Kuwaiti media figure
Fajer Al-Saeed. She commented on Twitter over a video showing a US official
offering condolences to the family of the young man. "Why is the political
advisor of the embassy at the funeral of the bedoon? Is it the duty of the US
Embassy counselor to attend the man's funeral and investigate the causes of his
suicide?
She was not the
only one who made such comments. MP Ahmad Al-Fadhl also said there are attempts
to exploit the suicide of the bedoon to blackmail Kuwait or harm it, adding
interference by any state in an internal matter of Kuwait is rejected. Fadhl
praised the ministry of interior's quick handling of the case by issuing the
statement on the suicide.
I think it is
unfortunate that the bedoons' issue does not seem to have a radical solution so
far, leading it to become a complex and offensive issue for Kuwait. But we must
not deny efforts by the central agency for illegal residents. Saleh
Al-Fadhalah, head of the agency, is doing his job as per the law and
regulations. In April, the agency said nearly 90 percent of all illegal
residents (bedoons) received ID cards in 2018. So, there are still 10 percent
who are not willing to correct their status by denying or hiding their original
nationality, in the hope of obtaining Kuwaiti
nationality. I do not know of any international system
in the world that would grant someone an identification card or citizenship
without knowledge of the person's origins or their true
nationality.
There are a few
matters that are sadly never mentioned in the news, like what was said by the
ministry of justice, which announced the issuance of 1,742 legal documents for
marriage, divorce and annulment contracts for illegal residents during 2018 in
cooperation with the central agency. All services provided to illegal residents
are based on continuous cooperation with the central agency to deal with the
situation of bedoons.
I believe this
suicide led to a serious and negative media orientation towards Kuwait, with
calls to demonstrate against the state and threaten public safety, which should
not be tolerated or accepted because this poses a security threat to the
country and people. The ministry of interior is required to confront any
attempts to threaten people and their lives and safety, and such an incident
should not be a pretext for breaking the law.
By Muna Al-Fuzai
