19 July 2010
KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced the introduction of a new ruling under which which Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis will be able to sponsor their husbands and children, a move which one prominent local women's rights activist said had been pending for two decades. Lulwa Al-Mulla, the Secretary General of the Women's Cultural and Social Society, hailed the new ruling, attributed its implementation to the election last year of four female MPs to the Kuwaiti parliament.
I am so proud of the achievements of the four female MPs in the National Assembly in just one year," she told the Kuwait Times, also praising the parliamentary women's committee and its achievements, including the legislative amendments it had pushed through.
We've been waiting for these new laws and rulings since the liberation [from the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion and occupation] for some 20 years now," Al-Mulla said. "We'd just been hearing statements without any deeds. This continued until women got into parliament, then a lot of things began to change.
The new ruling was also warmly welcomed by the Kuwaiti women who will be affected. Fayza Sh., a Kuwaiti woman married to a non-Kuwaiti doctor, said, "I think it's my right as a Kuwaiti to have the ability to sponsor my husband because this way we won't be forced to separate in old age," she said, talking about the law that compels expatriates over 60 to leave the country. Under the old law, she explained, "when my husband turned 60 he would need to leave and I'd have to travel with him because I wouldn't leave him along after this long relationship. That's why I'm grateful for the new legislation, which won't force us to move away from our home.
Fayza, who's a mother of five children, said that the decision will also benefit her children. "When my youngest child graduates from high school, my husband will be sixty years old, which means that he'll retire and we won't be able to pay the university fees [via his wages]," she explained. The new law, however, will give them some breathing space, she said. "At least my children will be free from having to pay health insurance fees." Fayza insisted that it's as much her right as a Kuwaiti to own a home in Kuwait as it is the right of her male compatriots.
I'm a citizen and I have the right to own a house just like the men," she said. "Why should I pay KD 400 every month for rent when I could pay nothing and own a home like others?" Another Kuwaiti woman, Nehal, an unemployed divorcee whose ex-husband was not Kuwaiti, also welcomed the new decision, pointing out that it would benefit her children and others in their position.
Nehal, who has two sons and one daughter, all of whom are now married themselves, said that, although she was divorced from their father 18 years ago when the children were young, the law was still a great step forward: "I know the ruling's a bit late to benefit me now, but thank God that it's passed so that I'll be able to sponsor my daughter or sons if anything happens to them.
KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced the introduction of a new ruling under which which Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis will be able to sponsor their husbands and children, a move which one prominent local women's rights activist said had been pending for two decades. Lulwa Al-Mulla, the Secretary General of the Women's Cultural and Social Society, hailed the new ruling, attributed its implementation to the election last year of four female MPs to the Kuwaiti parliament.
I am so proud of the achievements of the four female MPs in the National Assembly in just one year," she told the Kuwait Times, also praising the parliamentary women's committee and its achievements, including the legislative amendments it had pushed through.
We've been waiting for these new laws and rulings since the liberation [from the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion and occupation] for some 20 years now," Al-Mulla said. "We'd just been hearing statements without any deeds. This continued until women got into parliament, then a lot of things began to change.
The new ruling was also warmly welcomed by the Kuwaiti women who will be affected. Fayza Sh., a Kuwaiti woman married to a non-Kuwaiti doctor, said, "I think it's my right as a Kuwaiti to have the ability to sponsor my husband because this way we won't be forced to separate in old age," she said, talking about the law that compels expatriates over 60 to leave the country. Under the old law, she explained, "when my husband turned 60 he would need to leave and I'd have to travel with him because I wouldn't leave him along after this long relationship. That's why I'm grateful for the new legislation, which won't force us to move away from our home.
Fayza, who's a mother of five children, said that the decision will also benefit her children. "When my youngest child graduates from high school, my husband will be sixty years old, which means that he'll retire and we won't be able to pay the university fees [via his wages]," she explained. The new law, however, will give them some breathing space, she said. "At least my children will be free from having to pay health insurance fees." Fayza insisted that it's as much her right as a Kuwaiti to own a home in Kuwait as it is the right of her male compatriots.
I'm a citizen and I have the right to own a house just like the men," she said. "Why should I pay KD 400 every month for rent when I could pay nothing and own a home like others?" Another Kuwaiti woman, Nehal, an unemployed divorcee whose ex-husband was not Kuwaiti, also welcomed the new decision, pointing out that it would benefit her children and others in their position.
Nehal, who has two sons and one daughter, all of whom are now married themselves, said that, although she was divorced from their father 18 years ago when the children were young, the law was still a great step forward: "I know the ruling's a bit late to benefit me now, but thank God that it's passed so that I'll be able to sponsor my daughter or sons if anything happens to them.
By Rawan Khalid
© Kuwait Times 2010
