Bedoon Activists in Kuwait Go on a Hunger Strike

In a desperate expression of hopelessness, a number of Kuwait's Bedoon activists have reportedly started their third week of hunger strike, in demand of full rights in the Gulf country.

Activists who belong to the Bedoon community in Kuwait have told media outlets that they have resorted to the hunger strike as a final attempt to pressure Kuwaiti authorities to grant them their rights as full citizens.

Bedoon, or Bidun, the Arabic word for "without," is often used to refer to hundreds of thousands of people who have been living in different countries across the Gulf region for several generations, without being granted citizenship, over tribal considerations. 

Consequently, Bedoon people have limited access to education, housing, employment, health services, or travel documents.

While official authorities fail to report on the exact number of stateless people in Kuwait, their numbers are estimated to be between 100,000 and 200,000.

For many years, protests by the Bedoon community have been largely penalized by the Kuwaiti government, which continues to ignore their demands for citizenship and full rights.

In recent years, Bedoon activism has been growing using internet platforms. Currently, reports of the ongoing hunger strike have been limited to social media networks, despite government warnings of shutting down a protest tent built in recent weeks. 

Written by Riham Darwish