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MP Safa Al-Hashem took to social media to criticize those who call her racist when she says that “Kuwait is for Kuwaitis”. She called on the Kuwaiti people that it was time they stood up against those who want to create an “alien” entity in Kuwait, adding that “we will defend Kuwait for the sake of future generations”.
The issue of citizenship is very delicate and sensitive in Kuwait, especially among urban Kuwaitis, who insist that they are the original inhabitants of the country, and that over the passage of time they have become a minority because of naturalization that made bedouins or tribals larger in numbers than them. Based on unofficial statistics, Kuwaiti tribals are estimated to make up over 50 percent of the population.
The debate also comes amid intense discussions over calls to naturalize thousands of stateless people (bedoons), the overwhelming majority of whom are tribal. Several MPs have been pushing the government to resolve the decades-old problem of bedoons by granting Kuwaiti citizenship to some of them and basic rights to the rest.
In another development, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh yesterday demanded an explanation from MPs Mohammad Hayef and Mohammad Al-Mutair over a grilling they filed against him. The minister said the grilling did not include specific issues but generalized accusations that need further explanation. The grilling, which could be debated on April 30, made several accusations against the minister, including squandering of public funds.
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