By Faten Omar
KUWAIT: Thousands of Kuwaitis are demanding basic rights for the country's stateless bedoon community. Under the hashtag #Kuwaitis_demand_solution_for_ bedoon, more than 5,000 tweets have started to trend on Twitter. People are alarmed due to the rise of unjust actions toward bedoons in Kuwait.
Activist Khaled Al-Awadi affirmed that Kuwaiti citizens are demanding a solution for their bedoon brethren. "It is unreasonable that a humanitarian country does not have a solution for people living with us in solidarity. They do not have another place to live in other than this country. Kuwait must find a radical approach to this humanitarian issue," he said.
Sheikh Fahad Duaij Al-Sabah said bedoons are Kuwaiti citizens. "We must be fair to them. I do not like this label, but they are citizens who have not yet obtained citizenship due to arbitrary procedures. This situation must come to an end. Most of them are highly qualified and experienced and wish to serve the country," he noted.
Sanam Al-Majed tweeted: "Kuwait is always studying and researching the case of bedoons. Millions of dinars have been spent on authorities and departments in charge of these studies, and government has decided on more than one occasion that a number of them are entitled to naturalization. And yet no outcome. What is next?!"
For Waleed Al-Muhaini, the bedoon case seems like an endless issue. "We hope this issue will be resolved as soon as possible. Our families, brothers, cousins and neighbors understand that many of the bedoon contributed to the liberation of Kuwait, including bedoon martyrs, families and missing persons. I am fully confident that the new era will do them justice, hopefully," he said.
Falah Al-Shammari tweeted: "Kuwaitis demand a solution to the bedoon case for the millionth time. I say all bedoons have the right to citizenship for a long time. They have the right to be compensated for all the years they have been wronged, and have the right to sue those who wronged them." Sawsan said: "The case of the bedoons has been ongoing before I was born. Now I am old, and still the issue has not been resolved after so many generations. How many more generations have to suffer?"
Noorain tweeted: "We cannot depend on racists to resolve this 70-year-old catastrophe, because the racists are the ones who caused this crisis since the early sixties. They suspended naturalization in 1960 for five years that has continued until today, from which the catastrophe began and is still continuing today."
Jazaa Al-Qahs demanded the Kuwaiti government should abolish the Central Agency for the Remedy of the Situation of Illegal Residents. He also called for accountability against all those who forged an official report against the bedoons, and to be fair to every woman who forfeits her right to marry because of the arbitrariness of this agency. Ahmad advised Kuwait in a tweet to be just towards bedoons and their grievances for Kuwait's national security and reputation, saying this issue must be resolved.
Ali Al-Ali tweeted: "I congratulate the voice of truth of those who seek well for Kuwait, because they know that the bedoon are our brothers. I don't agree with the voice of racists that many Kuwaitis are against. The more honorable Kuwaiti citizens stand by their partners in the homeland and call to make the bedoon issue a priority. They constantly demand a just and comprehensive solution to their issue. This will effectively contribute to putting pressure on the government and resolving their issue."