Non-Citizen News Roundup

Protestor in Hungary- photo via ENAR

Kuwait: After last week's promise to grant citizenship to 3000 of the 100,000 stateless residents of Kuwait, the Bidoons are in the spotlight again for protests against the government. At a protest on Tuesday police used force, including batons, to disperse the crowd of over 200 and accused the protestors of violence against the police. The protestors were angered by a promise of identification that would have indicated their stateless status, thereby ensuring discrimination.

 Meanwhile, still convinced that this is not really their problem, the Kuwaiti government has requested some 42,000 passports for Bidoons from Iraq so that they can be issued work documents. (I'm sure Iraq was all, "Totally, we'll just send those right over!") Facing arrests, deportation and jail time the protestors continue on, which demonstrates that this problem is not going to go away without serious efforts by the government.

Kuwait say stateless protestors carried out criminal acts (via Chicago Trib)

Kuwait asks Baghdad to issue passports for 42,000 Bedoons (via Kuwait Times)

Coverage from this blog

Hungary: As part of the continuing effort to shock the EU with their human-rights deviant behavior, Hungary is now being accused of locking up asylum seekers alongside criminals for months after arrival. Some have apparently been beaten and denied the opportunity to apply for asylum. If Hungary is indeed violating human rights norms on detention and refoulement, let's hope they manage to straighten out the system before 800 more ECtHR cases are filed against them. (Strasbourg must be SO sick of getting cases from Hungary..)

UN Accuses Hungary of Locking Up Asylum Seekers (via Euronews)

Hungary as a Country of Asylum (PDF via RefWorld)

And in short: 

Israel: Are asylum-seekers, particularly from Africa, facing discrimination and violence?

From Asylum Seeker to Community Leader (via Haaretz)

Australia: Politicians offer an idea for their asylum woes: Pay citizens to host asylum families. Well, its a better idea than detention or return, but will Aussies go for it?

Govt Defends Asylum Seeker Homestay Plan (via Sydney Morning Herald)

Afghanistan: Following a (fund-raising) conference in Geneva held by UNHCR, several countries have agreed to contribute $1.9 billion to support the return of refugees to Afghanistan. Wonder how much the US chipped in?

Countries Agree on 1.9B Afghan Refugee Strategy (via AP)

Updates: Statelessness

Photo by Balarama Heller, check out the full portfolio here

As we noticed yesterday with Greece, states tend to repeat their mistakes when it comes to immigrants. Well, what goes around, comes around. Here's some more updates on issues that have previously been addressed on this blog that are back in the limelight:

Issue: Retroactive De-Nationalization of Haitians in the Dominican Republic
Update: Jesuit Refugee Service Calls for an end to the retroactive application of the citizenship law and immediate re-issuance of birth certificates to people effected.

Issue: Kuwait deals harshly with its Stateless Bidoons
Update: According to Zahra Albarazi at the Statelessness Programme Blog, the issue is creeping into parliamentary debate and there is some talk of granting rights.

Issue: On the border of India and Bangladesh live many stateless "enclave people" without access to basic rights
Update: Some ethnic Indians living in Bangladesh demand merging with the country of their residence and receiving Bangladeshi citizenship- they even celebrated Independence Day.

Bedoons released on bail in Kuwait

Source: AFP

Remember the stateless protestors of Kuwait? The ones who were imprisoned, deported, or fired after gathering to petition the government for citizenship after 40 years of legal limbo? Well, the latest out of Kuwait is a positive development, at least for some of our heroes.

Kuwait's public prosecutor on Thursday freed 59 stateless people on $1,800 bail each after they spent 40 days in jail for participating in protests demanding citizenship, their lawyer said.
The men were questioned on charges of assaulting policemen, damaging public property and taking part in illegal gatherings, Fayez al-Oteibi told AFP

 There are still a large number under investigation and the government has still failed to propose an agreeable solution to the situation of the stateless, contending that the majority of the bedoons are actually secret citizens of another country. (And if they just deprive them of documents for a little longer, they can get them to admit it!) This seems unlikely, given that there are 105,000 members of this group and they would likely take advantage of their foreign nationality if they were able to.

All the same, this jail release is a good first step, and perhaps as the country keeps sustained attention on this issue they will mellow their stance and find a adequate, human rights based solution for these non-citizens.


Kuwait frees 59 Stateless Protesters on Bail (The Daily Star)

Non-Citizen News Roundup

U.S. Atty Fein at a press conference announcing the indictment, via AP

US: Federal charges have been brought against members of the police force in East Haven, Connecticut for charges ranging from excessive force and false arrest to conspiracy. The basis for the charges is years of harassment and violence against the immigrant community.

"They stopped and detained people, particularly immigrants, without reason, federal prosecutors said, sometimes slapping, hitting or kicking them when they were handcuffed, and once smashing a man’s head into a wall. They followed and arrested residents, including a local priest, who tried to document their behavior."

So despicable, but sadly common in other small towns in America, where picking on immigrants is a pastime as well as a source of income. (As many immigrants, lacking bank account, carry large sums of cash on their person.) Let's hope this action by the Justice Dept. sends a message to police officers like those in East Haven that their racial profiling and bullying will no longer be tolerated. 
NY Times: Police Gang Tyrannized Latinos, Indictment Says
CT.com: Feds Indict 4 East Haven cops in racial profiling abuse case, more may be on the way

Kuwait: 61 of the bidoon/ stateless protestors (that we discussed last week) are being imprisoned for an additional 3 weeks pending further investigations into the protests. The charges include assaulting police and instigating an illegal gathering, although the news out of Kuwait suggests if anyone turned the protests violent, it was police.
AFP: Kuwait detains Stateless Protestors for 3 Weeks

Australia: More than 50 persons in Australian detention are recognized as refugees but unable to leave due to having failed security tests. The security tests have expanded their definitions of threats in the last years, and having being classified as a threat most countries are unwilling to receive the individuals (understandably.) The refugees are not informed why they failed, nor are they accepted by their home country, leaving them in legal limbo without much hope of a resolution. As the Australian human rights violations stack up, you really have to wonder what their government is thinking.
ABC Sydney: Darwin refugees in limbo after failing ASIO tests

Kuwait: Is it legal to deport stateless protesters?

Image via Mideastposts.com

According to news coming in the past few days from Kuwait, a meeting assembled by the Central Agency in charge of illegal residents (bidoon/bedoon) has reached a decision following several weeks of protests by members of the community. The government will take "deterrent measures" against protesters, including layoffs, eviction, cancellation of naturalization cases and, most crucially, deportation. These measures will apparently be levied against those who participated in the protests, and those who plan to participate in the future. (if you're not raising an eyebrow now, go back and re-read that sentence.)

Although there are an estimated 100,000 bidoons in Kuwait, naturally only a portion of these participated in the protests, and an even smaller portion are currently in jail or under investigation for such participation. (Some 80, according to the AFP.) Even one person in jail for peaceful protest is too many, but symbolically these actions are even more important as instruments to intimidate the bidoon population and to discourage further shows of solidarity or discontent with their untenable situation. In recent weeks the protests have turned ugly, with riot police attacking protestors with tear gas and batons and government spokesmen claiming that the demonstrations have been incited by Iraqis and other "enemies of Kuwait."

Despite the tough talk, both supporters and non pretty much agree that the aim of the protests has always been to ensure citizenship and other basic rights for this population that has been living illegally for almost 4 decades, and of course I tend to believe that too, absent evidence to the contrary. It seems much more likely that bidoons were inspired to non-violent protest by Arab Spring than that they were foreign provocateurs trying to destabilize one of the most democratic regimes in the Middle East.

Regardless, it is worth asking now: under international human rights law, is it legal to deport non-citizens based on their participation in a protest? In other words, do non-citizens possess the right to assemble?

First, let's look to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 20(1) states "everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association." (Other relevant provisions for this question could be articles 6, 9, 15, and 19.) A threshold question might be whether the UDHR is binding on Kuwait. My opinion is of course "yes"- as I have stated elsewhere:

"through multiple invocations in state constitutions, international law cases, and repetition in subsequent conventions, the UDHR is regarded to be of special significance and almost certainly of an instructive character in defining what is meant in the U.N. Charter by “human rights". 

I think the UDHR has special status as evidence of international customary law on human rights. (For case law on the subject, see e.g., Corfu Channel Case (Merits), ICJ Reports (1949), Iranian Naturalization Case, 60 ILR 204 at 207,  Case Concerning the United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran, ICJ Rep 1980, 3).

Moving more to the point, can the expansive term "everyone" really mean, well, everyone? Is a state really bound to protect the rights of non-citizens, especially when it comes to expressing discontent? Again, I would say "yes." The drafters were not shy about sprinkling universalizing terms like "all" "no-one" and "everyone" throughout the UDHR, but neither were they shy about confining rights when necessary by adding modifiers like, "within their own state." Further, the Preamble states that "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world," a sentence that leaves little room for quibbling about territorial jurisdiciton.

We can look elsewhere for evidence that Kuwait must, under international law, respect the rights of stateless persons to peacefully assemble. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (to which Kuwait is a signatory) protects freedom of association and right of peaceful assembly in articles 21 and 22 and the right also shows up in the Migrant Workers Convention and IESCR. However, these rights are proscribed by law, and Kuwait is entitled to regulate them based on national security and public order- an argument they will likely raise to support deportation.

However, the stated intent of the protests is to gain basic human rights. If this is considering a destabilizing or threatening concept to the government, what does this say about Kuwait?

Who are Kuwait's Stateless?

Source: Arabian Business

At the end of a year dominated by a profound upswing in attention to statelessness, Kuwait's stateless Bidoons (alt.  Bedoun, Bidun) have seized the day to protest an untenable situation in their country, one that has stretched almost half a century. Not being well-informed on Kuwaiti history, I would point those interested to the following sources, which I have been following to get information on the continuing protests and legal battles.

• As usual, Open Society is up on any emerging human rights issue seemingly anywhere, and thus this concise introduction to the Bidoon by blogger Sebastian Kohn is a good place to start.

• "Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti Bidun and the Burden of Statelessness" a recent report by Human Rights Watch, includes background and recommendations.

• Mona Kareem's blog has great coverage and links from a Kuwaiti Bidun freelance journalist/ poet.

• Lebanon's Daily Star has been following daily developments, as has Arabian Business, and to a lesser extent Al Jazeera.

• And of course, for the most up-tp-date news, you can always turn to the twitter machine: try hashtags #Kuwait, #Bidoon and naturally, #Stateless

Please feel free to leave any additional good sources in the comments. Meanwhile, I offer my solidarity to the stateless Bidoons of Kuwait, and hope that the government and the Kuwaiti people will see the light before anyone else has to get hurt.