The Bidoun of the United Arab Emirates
The Bidoun
The bidoun, literally meaning ‘without’, are a stateless minority in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), they lack citizenship of any country and are therefore deprived of many
fundamental human rights.
The reasons for the bidoun’s statelessness are varied but they generally fall into two
main categories: some are from nomadic Arab groups who had lived in the area for
centuries; others are the ancestors of people who travelled to the area – mainly from
Iran or Southeast Asia – before the UAE was established as a country. Both groups were
not registered as citizens when the UAE was founded in 1971 because they either lacked
necessary tribal affiliations or were illiterate and did not register their presence.
Therefore, the bidoun do not have any identity papers and are not the citizens of any
state, although many have lived in the UAE all their lives.i
Until recently, there existed a further complication: if a child was born to an Emirati
mother and a foreign father was not considered an Emirati citizen, even if they were
born in the country. Now, the children are able to apply to the government for
citizenship; although these requests are generally accepted, those born to non-Emirati
fathers are not guaranteed citizenshipii.
Estimating Bidoun Numbers
Estimates about the size of the bidoun population in the UAE vary. The government
claims that there are only 10,000 stateless people in the country. On the other hand,
non-partisan NGOs such as Refugees International and academics estimate the number
to be much higher, perhaps in the region of 100,000 peopleiii. The first step on the road
to a solution of the bidoun problem is therefore to get an accurate estimate of the
number of stateless people in the country, a task which the government of the UAE
should apply itself to without delay.
Statelessness and Human Rights
Statelessness is a serious human rights issue and affects the ability of a person to
receive essential services and to travel and freely. In the United Arab Emirates stateless
people face discrimination in employment and have restricted access to medical care
and education – many live in poverty. This violates their rights as laid out in the
International Covenant
of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in particular part 3,
clauses 6-15 which guarantee the right to social security, including education and
medical careiv.
Being stateless also affects the ability of the bidoun to travel freely. The bidoun in the
UAE lack passports or documentation and are therefore unable to leave the country.
Moreover, if they are given a Comoros Islands passport – as many have been – they are
at risk of having their work permit revoked at any point and being forced to a country
which they have no links with, again in violation of their human rights. As Refugees
International states: “nationality is the cornerstone of human rights, and to be
arbitrarily denied or deprived of nationality is a violation with profound
consequences.”v
In recent years there have been several moves to resolve the stateless problem and
register the bidoun. Some involved the registering of the bidoun for Emirati citizenship,
however reports by the United Nations Office of Human Rights suggest that only a small
fraction of the bidoun population benefited from this projectvi.
Human rights activists in the UAE have reported that the government of the UAE is
stepping up pressure on the bidoun to apply for Comoros Islands passports under the
pretence of registering their presence in the country legally, and several have reported
the UAE authories arranging Comoros Islands passports directly for them vii. However it
also puts those who take the passport in a precarious position, as it means that they can
be denied residency permits and deported to countries which they have no links to.
Ultimately, it means the government of the UAE can use nationality as a weapon to
deprive residents of their human rightsviii.
The Case of Ahmed Abdel al-Khaleq
The problems faced by the bidoun minority are shown clearly in the case of Ahmed
Abdel-Khaleq. Abdel Kaleq is a long standing advocate for the rights of the bidoun in the
UAE. Under pressure from the UAE authorities Adbel Khaleq applied for a Comoros
Islands passport which he was told would help secure his status within the UAE – it is a
country which he has never visited and has no connection to.
On May 22nd 2012 he was arrested, allegedly for having connections to al-Islah: a nonviolent political group which calls for moderate democratic reforms in the UAE.
He was held in prison and forced to choose between indefinite detention at the al-Sadr
prison and exile. Initially the authorities threatened to send Abdel Khaleq to the
Comoros Islands, however in June he was presented with a list of countries to choose to
be deported to, including: Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Thailand. Threatened
with indefinite detention he chose Thailand – a country he has no association with and
has never been to – his father was then told to book plane tickets to the country and
arrange a visa. Abdel Khaleq was issued with a tourist visa which expires on the 4 of
October and which explicitly prohibits him from working in the country.
On the 16th of July 2012 he left the UAE for Thailand, his family and seven sisters,
remain in the UAE – they have never left the country. The United Arab Emirates then
revoked his right to return to the country, meaning that it unlikely that he will ever be
allowed back. To arbitrarily deny someone of citizenship and illegally deport them as
result of peaceful political activism violates the most basic principles of international
human rights law, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rightsix.
The case of Abdel Khaleq is particularly shocking, it highlights the wider need for the
UAE government to address the problem of it stateless residents. Firstly, there is a clear
need for the government of the United Arab Emirates to acknowledge the real scale of
the stateless population in the country, and to ensure that there are functioning
channels available for registration and documentation of these groups. Secondly, the
government must also ensure that it abides to international human rights legislation
and stops using citizenship as a weapon against political and human rights activists.
i
ii
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/a-mechanism-to-reach-out-to-uaes-stateless
See http://dohanews.co/post/13582441729/qataris-hopeful-as-uae-extends-chance-at-citizenship-to
iii
See http://refugeesinternational.org/blog/united-arab-emirates-nationality-matters or Dr. Brad K. Blitz
Dr. Maureen Lynch (2011) Statelessness and the Benefits of Citizenship: a Comparative study. London, Elgar
Publishing limited.
iv
See http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm
v
http://refugeesinternational.org/blog/two-cases-show-world-divided-nationality-rights
vi
Dr. Brad K. Blitz Dr. Maureen Lynch (2011) Statelessness and the Benefits of Citizenship: a Comparative
study. London, Elgar Publishing limited, p190.
vii
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refdaily?pass=463ef21123&id=4fceead45
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/uae-bidun-blogger-forced-leave-country-raising-alarm-after-wavearbitrary-arrests-2012-07-16
viii
ix
See http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/uae-bidun-blogger-forced-leave-country-raising-alarm-after-wavearbitrary-arrests-2012-07-16 and http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm