Apply the basic questions of genocide to Kuwait, as discussed in exercise one. What categories of people you believe are most vulnerable to collective acts of violence and why? What can be done to prevent such violence from happening and/or protects vulnerable populations? As future leaders in your respective fields outline a plan that promotes peaceful resolutions
What lessons do we learn from the Rwanda genocide and other cases of political violence discussed in class? How would you apply those lessons to preventing conflicts and violence from erupting in Kuwait?
In my opinion, non-Arab expats, especially Indians and Filipinos, are the most vulnerable to collective acts of violence due to how they are viewed. They are seen as “less” because they come from different cultures and have less “prestigious” jobs that are often looked down upon. Their identity is attached to their labor. One could argue that it is not far fetched for non-Arab expats to be labelled as an entity that needs to be eradicated to achieve a “pure” society in the future. There are already cases of non-Arab expats who have been murdered in Kuwait - what’s to say it won’t happen at a much larger scale? The fact that they are seen as “less” means they are dehumanized; which makes the idea of murdering non-Arab expats digestible and maybe even tolerable to a lot of people. They are easy targets. There are some subtle markers that showcase just how susceptible expats are to violence. These markers can be seen in the fact that a vast majority of them are already mistreated, don’t share the same privileges as Kuwaiti citizens and are ridiculed. This chain of injustices and unfairness can easily lead to atrocious acts of murder in the future.
ReplyDeleteIn order to prevent violence like this from happening, I think it is absolutely crucial to learn how to identify the signs and red flags that indicate the priming of a population. If we receive that kind of education, we can speak up about these markers before it’s too late. Being well informed on previous cases of genocide and what lead to it and the causes, effects and impacts is vital. Having that kind of knowledge is power, but spreading that knowledge would be revolutionary. We can also prevent such violence from happening by going to the root of all this racial discrimination and try and put an end to it.
A possible outline that would promote peaceful resolutions is to have a program that makes sure that regular non-Arab expat’s voices are heard. If their stories are heard, the maids will be seen as someone's sister or mother; the drivers as brothers and fathers who just want to financially support their families back home. They should be a central part of the reforms and peaceful resolutions that would be put in place. Additionally, strict and rigid rules on racial discrimination and prejudice should be imposed. A strong emphasis on these rules would prevent the situation from growing and building up to a large scale genocide. Campaigns and public service announcements would also be an integral part of promoting peaceful resolutions. However, no matter how many campaigns and resolutions are put in place, making sure the community is well educated and well informed would be the most important part of the plan.
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ReplyDeleteI think the most vulnerable people in Kuwait for genocide are the Bedoun community. Expats are vulnerable, but it would be a stretch to say that they are the first target of genocide. The reasons why the Bedoun are the most vulnerable include the fact that there is no outside country that can take them in or defend them. Also, they are already treated on a continuum of genocide; they are segregated in specific areas, they are bureaucratically dehumanized and nonexistent, and they are treated like a burden.
Protecting the Bedoun has to begin, first and foremost, with heavily campaigning for them to be bureaucratically recognized. We can talk for hours and days about how their integration into public, social and cultural life would help, but it will mean nothing if it is illegal to do so; to hire an undocumented Bedoun, or to rent apartments for Bedoun in the main cities, for instance, might have legal repercussions for the people offering, so the priority should be to make them legally recognized.
As for the plan or the road map, I have already mentioned two steps. The first step is legal recognition, whether with or without a Kuwaiti nationality. After that, integration into the heart of cultural, social and legal life, as opposed to the fringes. Once that happens, a discussion about the meaning of Kuwaiti identity will arise (whether consciously or unconsciously), once that happens, it will offer us an opportunity to redefine what it means to be Kuwaiti, and to finally include the Bedoun in the final and most critical institution: the institution of national identity.
To answer that same question in general wouldn't be so different. A plan to promote peaceful resolution would begin with preventing segregation (whether subtle or blunt segregation), and would end in integration in national identity. The steps in the middle would differ on a case to case basis.
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ReplyDeleteI originally thought of non-Arab expats as the population most vulnerable to genocide. As they face violence from both the state and the population, but after the point of how they would just be deported was raised my opinion has changed. While I think they are one the populations that faces the most violence, if genocide is to be classified as both an act of erasure and creation then both of these things could be achieved with simply deporting them. That leaves us with populations who you can't deport, Kuwaitis. The three main targets discussed in class were: rich Kuwaitis, Bedouins and Shia’a. Of the three I think the rich is the most unfeasible – there isn't a culture that hates the rich in Kuwait, but one that covets and envies them. Any hate directed towards them comes from envy and not because of class consciousness, most would want to be rich rather than destroy systems of class inequality. That leaves Bedouin and Shia’a, with Bedouin I think the issue is more to do with making them less ‘barbaric’ and assimilating them into society rather than removing them, there's certainly a lot of inequalities and difficulties they face and while they could undergo a cultural genocide I don’t believe there would be a state sponsored mass killing of them. In my opinion the population most vulnerable to genocide would be Shia’a, there is a very long history of conflict between Shia’a and Sunni’s, one that expands beyond just Kuwait and encompasses the region. One of the region's biggest problems, ISIS, specifically targets Shia’a and other religious minorities. The most relevant to Kuwait being the 2015 mosque attack. A lot of violence in the region is based on religion and Shia’a are very much ‘othered’ in that area, often referred to as blasphemous and infidels. Because Shi’ism is associated with Iran and Iraq, both countries Kuwait has had conflict with, they could be classified as traitors and killing them would be excused under the guise of protecting the country. I don’t believe that the state of Kuwait would start a campaign against them independently, but they could be swept up into conflicts close by, they could be complicit in killings rather than the instigators of them.
As genocide does not happen overnight, we can clearly see the warning signs, it just comes down to taking them seriously. Understanding the process of priming populations and how they become expendable is vital to our ability to stop it, genocide stems from hatred, intolerance and discrimination so addressing those factors would be the most pressing – this can be done through education as well as allowing Shia’a to integrate more, by giving them more power in parliament. Removing the possibility of conflict can also be achieved by preventing armed forces, while its difficult for Kuwait to address the problems of the region as a whole reaching out to activist organizations would both help solve the conflict faster as well as show the population that they intend to protect their Shia’a minority. Continuing the path Kuwait went on when they jailed Shafi Al Ajami, but have them face consequences rather than releasing them with no charges.
Concerning a peaceful resolution, as this is a conflict that affects the whole region and not just Kuwait it will not be an easy process at all, there would be a need for all the countries in the region to come to an agreement about how they would individually protect their vulnerable populations. The main method would be through education, making programs that encourage co-existence and encouraging religious leaders to renounce religious extremism and intolerance. In Kuwait specifically that would be easier to achieve, as the topics of sermons in mosques are already decided by the state. Media that releases discriminatory and violent ideas should also be held accountable, as well as protection of the religious sites of minorities from further destruction. Fostering a sense of community, compassion and tolerance would be the most important aspect.
I believe that the most vulnerable people are the expats. Before categorizing people by their nationalities and choosing the most vulnerable, we have to keep in mind the issue of residency. Since the expats are not the nationals of Kuwait, obviously they are the ones who are most likely going to be the victims of any act of violence; that act could be genocide, massacre, deportation or even human rights violation. In the case of the expats and specifically in Kuwait, no matter what type of violent act is going to be used towards a specific nationality, at the end of the day ,those people who are going to be deported have a place to go back to ; which in this case is their home countries. To be more specific, in my opinion “Palestinians” might be the most vulnerable people to acts of violence because of their generalized “disloyalty” during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait .Unlike many other genocides, the Armenian Genocide that took place in the beginning of the 20th century by the Ottomans , people who were deported did not have a place to go to, and for that reason people marched to other countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and many other places and created an Armenian diaspora in which they preserved their identity. Similar to this but in a bit difference we can consider the issue of “Bedoons” as the category of people that might face violence. Within the borders of their own home country Bedoons are treated unequal and are being discriminated for being who they are, they are being targeted and becoming victims of any act of violence just because of their identity.
ReplyDeleteSo, in order to prevent such violence from happening, on a state level, governments should obey the conventions that they have been signatory to. for example, “The UN Convention On Genocide” that prevents any act of violence towards a specific targeted group or “The Human Rights Declaration” that defends all rights of all human beings. Other than obeying international conventions, within the state’s constitution the articles should apply both for nationals and for expats when it comes to violence. On the regional level, since expats make a huge number in the GCC as a whole, collective security should play a huge role. All six countries should act together when it comes to protection of human’s lives. And finally, on the international level, the international community should work together against any act of violence that violates and threatens human rights of a person or a specific ethnic group and make cross cultural difference accepted in every state and community in order to create a peaceful place for people to live.
As a great grand-daughter of a genocide survivor, I believe that no person or a state has the right to target a specific ethnic group because of their religion, traditions, culture or even language and make them seek refuge in other states in order to survive. There is no justification for committing genocides although even terrorists have somehow their rights to defend themselves, but when it comes to any act of violence that intents to ethnic cleansing should be punished by all possible means. For this, all International conventions, rules and regulations should be respected by all member states because rules and regulations are the ones that protect human beings from violence. Another important aspect is education which will prevent such acts if we make the previous cases recognizable by all states and also educate our younger generations about whatever happened previously in order for them to be aware and by these, we can make our world a better place to live in.
The category of people I believe are most vulnerable to collective arts of violence would be the expats that leave their country in hope for a better life in Kuwait, specifically the Southeast or South Asian population. This population is vulnerable due to the fact that they sacrifice themselves in order to support their families back home. Kuwait is divided through economy and class, and belittle the ones who work for them, such as waiters, cashiers, street cleaners, house maids, part time maids, drivers, bathroom cleaners, street cleaners and etc. I don’t mean to stereotype the Southeast or South Asian population with these jobs, because there are people within these populations in great job positions with great opportunities and money, but unfortunately the majority of Kuwait has associated specific ethnicities and nationalities as “low class”, and treat them with disrespect, especially with the fact that they are not considered Arab, even though there are many Muslim Southeast and South Asians, Kuwaitis give more respect an loyalty towards Arabs. We all know the conflict that rose between the Philippines and Kuwait where the president spoke up about the unjust and horrifying mistreatment the Kuwaiti families were treating the housemaids and drivers that came and lived in their houses, such as finding a woman’s dead body cut up in the fridge, and many other stories Kuwait is too ashamed to post to the public. The president wanted to ban any Filipino citizen from entering Kuwait, which I believe would be the right decision, as Kuwaiti citizens need to begin depending on themselves or their own citizens for work, rather than depending on other nationalities to do their work for them. This population is isolated from their family and friends, and put in a new country they probably don’t know much about. The domestic workers specifically break my heart because although a contract exists with specific regulations, not a lot of families meet these regulations leaving the workers to hand off their life to a random couple or family. Professor Pellegrino has shown us a documentary about the Bangladesh workers who work in Kuwait, which exposes just how vulnerable they are in Kuwait with little money, uncomfortable living, and no power. The Southeast and South Asian population are being treated like crap, they have signed their lives away to Kuwaiti citizens who have zero respect for them, mentally and physically abusing them for their own comfort; being forced to work long hours with no rest, being with held from their salary, getting yelled at daily, and just basically enslaving these human beings. Of course there are many in Kuwait that can be listed under vulnerable population such as the women, the people suffering with mental health issues, the bedon, the bedioun, even the non-gcc citizens living here, but Kuwait has always given Arabs more respect than any other nationality, and they will treat the southeast and south Asians with the most disrespect as ive seen it with my own eyes. Of course I am not a very political person, and I do not know much about making Kuwait a better place but, If Kuwait wanted to end this type of violent way of treatment, they would first stop allowing these nationalities to come to Kuwait for a few years. Kuwait under appreciates the southeast and south Asian population and how much they really help make Kuwait what it is. If any citizen from the vulnerable population needs a job and wants to come to Kuwait, they must re write their contracts and their president must be really strict with allowing them to enter Kuwait, stressing they should NOT live in the peoples houses. Drivers and house maids should live near by, but not in the houses. They need a rest and a break. The vulnerable population must be vocal, and the public must hear them; everyone should know how mistreated they are and if a death occurs. We must let everyone know whats happening, as well as educate everyone with previous genocides and enslavement, and compare how close Kuwait is to getting one.
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ReplyDeleteIn my point of view, the category of people that are most vulnerable to collective acts of violence are the Bedouns. Firstly, because they have a stigma to their identity. They are deprived from education, residence, civil Id’s, even marriage contract. They are socially killed due of not having their basic needs to live normally. They do not have the right to work, nor study. & due to that things they are considered dangerous to the society. Also, the country is finding ways to keep them away from the country. They have no were to go to, so there is no way for them to be deported. Many hate speeches are being said to make the community fear them. Due to this social factors of fear and territory anxiety, the Bedouns are very vulnerable to acts of violence.The Bedoun case has been there for years, and no solution has happened. Also, in the “Pyramid of Hate” I would rank Bedoun in higher level 3. They are stereotyped, dehumanized and discriminated. They are also increasing in members, so, all of these factors result’s in chaos(violence). History can repeat itself. Moreover, I think to prevent violence acts from happening, the Bedouns should be given their basic needs socially. The country must accept the fact that they are living in this country, rather than acting like they are not there. Once the fact is accepted many solutions can happen. They can start having Ids, fingerprints, the right to have education, they can work. They can be a factor to this country. Once they have the chance to work and give. They can live normally. Also, there are nine islands that are available, with no life. Maybe giving them a chance to inspirit one of the Islands will have a positive outcome. That is ofcourse after giving them Id’s and all basic social needs.
If genocide was to happen in Kuwait, the perpetrators would definitely be Kuwaiti; it’s their country and it doesn’t make sense that the original people of the country would allow themselves to be eradicated in any way, shape, or form. As for who the Kuwaitis would target as their victims, it would probably be low class, immigrant laborers from countries like India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and the likes. I feel that they are the most vulnerable to mass violence because there is already hate and discrimination towards them. More than the Bedoons and the other foreign expats from closer Arab countries like Jordanians, Lebanese, Syrians and so on. I believe it’s the immigrant workers’ language and the vast cultural difference between them and the Kuwaitis, would set them apart and make them more susceptible to open acts of dislike. Kuwaitis are people proud of their country, history, and natural riches. They view themselves in high regards and admit to little others as better than them, and so it’s hard for them to accept those immigrant workers as humans with the same status as theirs especially when their nature of work which is mostly to clean, wash, haul goods from one place to another, wait upon others to drive them around, take orders as waiters and so on. Paired with the stigma towards the workers as well as racism and the fear of ‘other’ all of which could very much lead to collective acts of aggression towards these residents. If genocide really were to take place in Kuwait against those other people, the justifications that the perpetrator would use is that they are the cause of all the troubles the country is facing in terms of state resources or demographic imbalances to small problems such as traffic, litter and more. Already, many Kuwaitis are angry at immigrants and blame them for mistakes and issues not even directly related to expat workers.
ReplyDeleteThere are several actions that can be applied in Kuwait to prevent genocide from taking place. The first and best thing to do is to acknowledge the issue. Accepting Kuwaitis and the government should speak up about the concerns of their people regarding immigrants and warn them from committing any act of violence towards the workers. Also, since Kuwait is a Muslim country, verses from the Quran and teachings from the prophet should be used as a way of taming the hate or racism some might feel towards others. Police must be instructed to report and intervene if any suspicious, harmful interaction were to happen between Kuwaitis and foreigners and must not go easy on those who express disgust and unacceptance towards the laborers. Officials such as the Ameer, government, and police must set exemplary behaviors to guide their people to do the right thing. As an English major student and a future translator/writer/teacher, I would use my communication and writing skills to try and raise awareness to an issue that is apparent not only in Kuwait but other neighboring countries too by writing blog posts, newspaper articles, books to speak against racism and violent crimes. I would also try my best to be a mediator between Kuwaitis who cannot speak English and those who can barely put together a few words to communicate with the natives to aid them in working together more easily and on friendly grounds.
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Based on my perspective, expatriates are the most vulnerable towards being attacked and involved in violence and such harm can be caused both mentally and physically. Especially domestic workers, as they are unfortunately viewed as the minority in Kuwait. Such acts happen almost daily, and they are shared widely on different platforms of the media. Though those violent tragedies are being shared on the news and other platforms, yet it seems that it isn’t enough to be used as a way to raise awareness towards such violent traumas. Suppression is one of the most common examples that can lead to violence; the “Kafala” (Sponsorship) system that is implemented on expats, impacts their mental health, especially on cleaners or maids by having their passports confiscated, leaving them with limited to no choice of freedom. According to Human Rights Watch, “Two-thirds of Kuwait’s population is comprised of migrant workers, who remain vulnerable to abuse despite recent reforms.”
ReplyDeleteTo prevent such violent acts, we can create an organization that can protect all expats, especially domestic workers and fulfill their minimum rights, such as a hotline to protect them, higher salaries and keep their id and documents with them. In addition, the government should implement laws and regulations that abides by the international human rights to also protect their migrant workers as well as other expatriates and so, whoever doesn’t follow this system faces severe legal consequences regardless of their position/wasta or nationality. Another way of violence prevention is constructing an academic system that would educate the youth and open their eyes towards violence and previous genocide and how to avoid factors that can lead to them.
Furthermore, if I was to be a leader, I would create campaigns promoting peace and love by putting out billboards on the streets as a reminder to all individuals of all generations that peace can exist among all religions, ethnicities, races and genders. I would employ serious consequences against any sort of discrimination, such as a minimum of six months in prison, I would also enforce community service for everyone who mistreats domestic workers, and obligate individuals to work in their positions.
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Kuwait’s social stratification ties nationality and economic class- Kuwaitis occupy the elite, upper and upper-middle classes, Arab expats usually occupying the middle and upper-bottom classes, non-Arab expats are situated in the lower-middle and bottom classes. Of course this generalization has exceptions- Western expats and upper caste Indians are generally middle or upper-middle class. Bedoun, officially considered to be without nationality, are in the lower class. This structure strongly informs to what degree state violence can go on without consequence. Another matter to consider is intervention from the international community. For example, the Filipino government has intervened in cases of abuse towards its citizens, which threatens to disrupt economic and political stability in GCC and Arab nations who rely on Filipino labor. While the international community has been vocal in regards to modern day slavery in Arab nations, these nations have seen little intervention and have continued business as usual. Considering the above, I believe that Bedoun and South Asians are the populations most vulnerable to state violence. In class the discussion settled on Bedoun being the utmost vulnerable population, which I can only agree with to a limited extent considering that state harassment of South Asians has been visibly ongoing with little response from the public, so perhaps invisibility and the inability to escape are not the most pertinent factors when considering apathy. It is important to note that the discussion here is regarding collective acts of violence, a category broader than genocide. There are a variety of strategies that can be put into action in order to prevent violence and protect vulnerable populations. An important one is to engage the international community in an effort to exert political and economic pressure on states that are clearly scaling the genocide continuum. It is important to note that while this is important, it’s effectiveness is questionable and the process probably takes too long in terms of immediate relief for vulnerable populations, where efforts should be focused. Therefore, human rights and community/grass-roots organizers need to build coalitions to provide resources for survival/escape. These groups also need to get noisy, shining a moral light onto the violence and engaging the public into taking action such as protests, pursuing political leadership positions, as well as funding or sharing material resources with organizations facilitating survival and escape. There are strategies that fall between engaging the international community as a whole (so the UN I suppose) and direct aid, particularly in engaging the government of the vulnerable population if applicable, if not then engaging governments who are willing to open their borders for refugees. Peace after state violence relies primarily on the state taking responsibility for its past actions and on subjugated communities adopting a mentality of grievance and forgiveness. The state should display sincere remorse and reparations for the violence inflicted, which should be done with respected leaders of the targeted population at the table. This inclusion of community members is extremely as it improves the chances of appropriate and sufficient measures being put into action. Furthermore, this will display sincerity and the state’s ability to incorporate the community in question into the political process, hopefully garnering their trust. This will allow that population to move forward from justified rage towards grieving the recent past and hopefully forgiving both the state and the wider citizenry for that past. However, political/institutional inclusion can only go so far without public awareness campaigns and other educational efforts from the state to remove biases and stigmatizing opinions from dominant groups in the society. Efforts to improve relations between distinct communities prevent a resurgence in violence since state violence is not born overnight but grown from decades of stigma.
ReplyDeletenote: blogger made me remove 300+ characters to post this, taking with it a lot of specificity. Though the overall idea is the same, I like the original better :'( Is brevity a requirement or may I split my comment in the future?
DeleteThe most vulnerable category of people to collective acts of violence in my opinion is people of the Bedoun community. When thinking of a group that may be targeted a lot of people think of domestic workers since they’re minorities and stigmatized, but people forget the fact that Kuwaitis are in need of these workers. It would be much easier to send them back to their countries than inflicting mass violence. Bedouns are severely stigmatized and dehumanized in their own society and home. They are ignored and treated like they don’t exist so acts of violence against them wouldn’t be surprising. They have no country to be deported to or try to go to seek help; they are treated like nobodies in their own country. They face cultural genocide and societal withdrawal so mass killing of that population wouldn’t change from the reality that we’re living in now. They have little to no rights and are prevented from regular things that humans need because they don’t own citizenship. They are segregated, unemployed, don’t have the right to education, stereotyped, etc. Some things that can be done to prevent violence from happening is for them to get citizenship or legal recognition of some kind in order for them to work and get the education they deserve. Bedouns should also be part of the Kuwaiti society and not isolated like they are now in order for Kuwaitis to be aware of their stories and have compassion towards them. Breaking this barrier will allow people to understand the issue and more awareness will be raised about the seriousness of this issue and the root of it.
ReplyDeleteKuwait is a country in which its main religion is Islam and most of its citizens practice that religion. Although Islam’s main message is “peace”, some Kuwaitis forget that, especially when it comes to Bedounds. In my opinion, Bedouns are the most vulnerable population in Kuwait and is the one that’s most likely to be victims of genocide due to the fact that they have nothing. Some may say that other populations in Kuwait such as domestic workers would be the clear victims of genocide. However, people forget that Bedouns have nowhere to go. They can’t be deported back to their homes, they don’t have passports, and in fact, they don’t even have driver licenses. This wasn’t always the case however. Although in the past Bedouns still didn’t have a citizenship, they had a lot of privileges granted to them, such as free education and free healthcare. But that soon changed as most of them were fired from their jobs and can’t even purchase a chip for their phones since they don’t have any means of identification. Someone jobless, stateless, and living in fear of what the country they’re living in might do to them next is truly a vulnerable society. Many acts of violence have happened between Kuwaitis and Bedouns, and most of the time it’s purely an act of hatred and superiority. I think that the only thing that can prevent such acts from happening is to “simply” give all the Bedouns a Kuwaiti citizenship. It might sound like something that could never happen, but it’s realistically the only action that would work. In the mean time however, something that can promote a peaceful resolution is to get a lot of Kuwaitis to protest or speak out on the issue and how we’ve been treating them inhumanely. Thankfully, Kuwaitis love jumping on trends and doing what other people are doing, which is why I feel like if a good amount of big personalities joined the protest, then thousands would follow. Another simple resolution is raising awareness on social media, but that doesn’t touch people as much as protestors do. Furthermore, I believe that the moment we make peace in Kuwait a trend, everyone’s going to live in harmony and the Bedouns are gonna be as relaxed and content as ever.
ReplyDeleteThe population of the State of Kuwait is rather small, expatriates being majority of the inhabitants. Expatriates come from various countries, making Kuwaitis a minority in terms of number but not in the way they are socially treated. Expatriates have provided labor force and working class. Unfortunately today, the relationship between Kuwaitis and expatriates is more turbulent than it had been previously. Not only has their relationship with common workers collapsed, but also government laws applied to expatriates have made the ‘difference’ of identity–based on socio-economic, ethnic or religious grounds, more clear. This can be seen in enforcement of strict rules and change in laws that have given rise to new difficulties for the progress and survival of the expatriates. Majority of jobs are handled by them. If a situation requires the genocide of a particular category of people, it would target anyone depending on the reason of taking such a heinous action. The state could even target its own people if needed. However, the primary victims would be the Bidun and in extreme cases, certain categories of expatriates. The perpetrators would most likely be highly ranked government officials, part of the Kuwaiti population. The reason these segments are vulnerable is due to their identities or the way Kuwaitis label them. Their nationality, cultural, religious, racial and linguistic differences play a role in the collective violence they face. The class and status, work positions they hold–a skilled professional or unskilled labor and community reputation matter when it comes to factors that make expatriates vulnerable to violence. Nonetheless, they are less likely to be subjected to genocide in most cases as they work for the state and haven’t created issues considering the economy and security of Kuwait. Shifting large loads of the work of expatriates to a much smaller Kuwaiti population would be rather chaotic and critical. Thus, a strategically planned genocide would not aim at the expatriates. Instead, the genocide would aim at a more vulnerable community, with minimal rights, no voice or belongingness to a country, community that is seen as a burden and liability–the Bidun. They are not seen as beneficial or an asset to the society and demand for a set of rights they may never obtain. Their demands for citizenship have been ignored for years and are regarded as outsiders. Since their true nationality remains uncertain, it is difficult to allow their influx into Kuwait. The root cause of this conflicting situation would be discrimination, stigma associated with their identities, racism and lack of understanding that lead to violence against both expatriates, and possible genocide of the Bidun. The major rationale and justification provided for deporting expatriates would be ‘providing more opportunities for Kuwaitis’ and that for the Bidun, would be ‘avoiding citizenship issues’ and ‘putting an end to their struggle’. Violence committed against the expatriates would receive worldwide outrage, especially from countries the victims belong to. The aftermath of such a tragedy would be difficulty in managing jobs, changed foreign policies and collapsing trade relations. However, in case of Bidun, no country will accept them as refugees. The only support they may receive would be from the Human Rights organizations. Preventive means would be first to limit the immigration of large number of expatriates. Allowing limited categories of workers into the country would decrease the need to deport them. The officials deport uncountable number of expatriates, yet allow in many through illegal visa trading, making deportation ineffective. Extending job opportunities to Kuwaitis will reduce the need for a foreign working class. Spreading awareness about structural violence against expatriates is necessary. The Kuwaiti community needs to be widely educated in the importance of having a diversified society. Amendments to work related laws and rights can be made that provide the vulnerable communities with security, justice and equality.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the Bedouins are most likely subjected to genocide. The predators would be the government or the rich, and the bystanders are the people. Bedouins are one of the minorities in Kuwait, and have already been subjected to political violence. They can't have ownership for a house or a car, they don’t have free access to education or healthcare, some jobs can't except them, and they can't even travel. Due to that some of them are stigmatized for doing illegal activities and drug dealing. Some of the possible hidden reasons to be subjected to genocide are to take the place they occupy and turn it to a place that brings money, or they might be a political or economical threat. The reasons the predators might use to justify their killing, might be the Coronavirus, Crimes they have committed and say they are "dangerous for this society", or for knowing some of the government secrets and don't want their secrets to be leaked out. To prevent genocide from happening, we could first to show that they are not a threat but they are in need for our help and that's help them by living in a better society, and raise awareness about their case and condition by doing a documentary, raising fund or charity to help support them by and convince businessmen to invest in Kuwait instead of outside to increase the number of jobs so everyone can work and no one would blame the other for the lack of jobs. Rethink the idea of Kafla and create a better program. Finally, aware the people that what's happening to the Bedouins is considered as political violence and it needs to stop.
RM (S00043419)
ReplyDeleteKuwait is a small country, yet filled with different people of various religious backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures. It is what makes Kuwait unique in the sense that Kuwaitis are actually the vast minority of the population in the State of Kuwait. With that being said, it would be easier to say that because the Kuwaitis are the minority within their own state that they would be the victims and most vulnerable to cases of violence. Still, that is not the case. In fact in a hypothetical scenario based on factual evidence, the Kuwaitis would actually be the perpetrators. However, one mustn’t categorize all Kuwaitis are perpetrators as there are will be a very specific type of Kuwaiti that comes to mind. Again, in a hypothetical scenario based on factual evidence, if in case of a genocide or an outbreak of a genocide, the genocide would mostly happen from the Kuwaiti Government onto the Bedoons of Kuwait. The Bedoons of Kuwait are very vulnerable, as they legally and simply “don’t exist”, they are not real, legally speaking. Legally speaking they don’t have any government documents that prove their existence, therefore they don’t exist. So, it would be easier if in a hypothetical scenario that the Kuwaiti government have the military attempt the genocide onto the Bedoons, as the Bedoons live in certain areas disgunated for them. No one ever visits those areas, unless they are Bedoons. The Bedoons would also be an easy, if not the easiest, and vulnerable community to wipeout because of the following reasons. Number one they do not legally exist. Number two, because they don’t legally exist, they don’t have any country that claims them as citizens. So that means that the Kuwaiti government could do what it believes needs to be done, and the Bedoons could disappear, and no country, NGO, or even IGO can defend or even know about this issue.
In order to prevent such atrocious actions from emerging, the Bedoons should become legally acknowledged by the Kuwaiti government. Once that happens, even though it is very hard and almost impossible, then the Bedoons will be part of Kuwait and not isolated from Kuwait.
In order to promote peace, and maintain peace, we must remember to always look forward, and to see how much farther we have developed as societies.
RM
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I personally believe that the Indians are the most vulnerable groups of people in Kuwait against acts of genocide. There are more Indians in Kuwait than Kuwaitis. The majority of domestic workers, such as drivers, are Indians. They also occupy some professional fields like engineers. Indians have a long history in Kuwait and just about every kind of place in the country consist of them. They have a label since most of them are low-middle class working low pay-rate jobs whereas the Kuwaiti government looks out for the Kuwaitis financially. In their eyes, Indians are a minority while they are superior because of class standing. The problem is that they are unfortunately often very discriminated against. They do not have much power in Kuwait as the law tends to side with Kuwaiti people more commonly than other nationalities. Those who work for Kuwaiti people can’t do much if the Kuwaiti chooses to abuse their power over them. The fact that they have this ability appears to be enough for them to insist on using it. Some people do not treat certain Indians as people with feelings and needs and expect them to carry out any task handed, regardless of their opinions. I have seen this too frequently and it still happens. It makes me question: What would they do if Kuwaitis kept pushing this further and only insisted on making it worse? Anything can happen, however, genocide does require a process of events and it does not happen suddenly. I think the best solution to this is to simply give Indians more rights in the country. If the law sided with anyone, it will likely make that targeted group more respected. This will help negate the stereotypical lens people that people use to view them as inferior.
ReplyDeleteIn applying basic questions of genocide to Kuwait in specific, it has allowed me to reflect on the realities that exist in Kuwait. As per class discussion, I believe the Bidoun community are by and large the most vulnerable population. To analyze this issue, one must first understand that there are ways in which Kuwait, as a nation-state, organizes its sense of citizenship and national identity. Within the Kuwaiti/Non-Kuwaiti binary lies a blurry element that consists of Bidoun (without citizenship). Some of which are descendants of nomads, whose ancestors failed to apply or have the documents required during the Kuwaiti Independence. The other group constitutes citizens from Iraq, Syria, or Jordan who came to Kuwait during the 1960s and 1970s in order to work and settle. In the past, Bidouns were neutralized. They were given promises to citizenship, free housing, healthcare, education, and jobs. The only thing they couldn't do was vote. They were professionals, doctors, and made up the majority of the army. In this sense, they played an extremely significant role in building the modern Kuwaiti nation-state. However, Kuwait reversed this practice in 1986 for safety and security reasons. Thus, their status shifted to illegal residents and identification documents like passports, civil IDs, and a driver’s license were no longer issued for them.
ReplyDeleteSince then, the exclusion they have been living in and the struggles they have been going through in terms of discrimination and stigma in my opinion counts as a humanitarian crisis. It calls for attention and to do so, we must first and foremost make sure people know about this issue. Only after taking two classes (Identity, Difference, and Deviance, and Genocide) have I really understood the impact of this crisis. Be it on the individual or on society as a whole. Implementing courses as such as early as possible in our education system is imperative in order to have people to start thinking about what that really matter.
To be the most effective is to foresee the results from initial signs. To prevent it before it actually happens. We must be so aware of who vulnerable populations are, why they are, and what makes them expendable, that we would be so quick to call it out from its early stages. Simple signs of hatred, discrimination, or mistreatment are signs we must address and not let develop. Then, activism is necessary. However, we must ensure that we are going to the right people. In my opinion, talking amongst ourselves will only take us so far. First, we must do our research and find out exact names of people mostly responsible for issues of Bidoun. Second, lobbying and networking is vital to build a stronger base. Finding people with similar goals and causes will help as we join forces, collaborate, and elaborate. Kuwait is a small country, we need to get to the people in charge, through forming connections. Here, we can get our voice across to the people who make the decisions. I don't think immediate integration of the Bidoun community is possible, it is a process that takes time, so patience is required. I believe having it take time is better in order to have people slowly accept them rather than having negative repercussions or backlash in a sense where they would say things like, "they're taking our jobs," for example. We don't want more hatred to stem out of our efforts, thus we have to think critically and start by ensuring and applying rules in terms of rights, violations, and legal support to protect them incase of any violence.
I believe that the explicit and the recognizable vulnerable groups in Kuwait are the Bedoun’s and non-Arab expats, not including Western expats (from Europe or the US). From a different perspective, if we look closely and analyze the political powers in Kuwait, it is clear to see who is controlling the government and country’s local decision making. The Islamic Brotherhood in Kuwait has influenced the country since their existence in our government in 1991, in which they kicked or even threatened the liberalists and other political officials from making changes to their plans. Here, the vulnerable population is everyone not part of the Brotherhood but most importantly, it’s the other portion of Muslim Kuwaiti’s and Arabs that are not part of this cult. What defines the identities of these victims are their religious sector’s ideologies (Suni or Shiite) and their political philosophy. There is an ongoing issue of the Brotherhood calling the shots in governmental decision making, therefore, I believe the root of the conflict would be other Kuwaiti’s (non-Brotherhood members) speaking out about serious issues in the country that the Brotherhood does not want to change. They believe that these people are being too “liberal” and their proposal for developments and changes for the benefit of the country should not take place. As a result, most of the decision making lays in the hands of the Brotherhood who have taken over Kuwait over the years and members of this cult can be found in almost every sector of our community. Tensions that will come along the years will cause the country to be divided, if it’s not already presently divided. Since the Brotherhood is a powerful cult, they have “Brothers” from all over the world in different countries (mostly Egypt) to support them. They also established Islamic schools in Kuwait that prime kids (or brainwash them) to believe in the cults ideologies. When the child grows up, they will be a part of that Brotherhood. It is evident that Kuwait has already allowed the Brothers to take over their government for years. What is stopping them from taking over the country and killing every Muslim non-Brother? They have committed murderous acts before.
ReplyDeleteWhat can be done to stop the supposed violence is a balance in Kuwait’s government officials’ background. The more Brothers we have in the parliament, the more biased it will be against the country’s social, technological, and economic development. It is currently dangerous to speak against these Brothers because they target and hurt those who do so. It will be difficult for Kuwait to withdraw Brothers from their government but I believe it is necessary to unblock these people who have halted the countries growth, creativity, and progressiveness.
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Abdulwahab almutawa
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Based on Kuwaiti history in the recent past, whether or not terrorist acts can be considered as a genocidal act or not it surely seems to act in the same patterns as genocide does. For example, then mosque bombing in Kuwait back in the summer 2015 where a sunni terrorist individual equipped with enough instrument that will take out a considerable number of Shia's in their own mosque during their time of prayers. Surely the end goal of this terrorist individual and the group that aided him in this specific act is to erase the entire Shi'a population. To me at least, this seems to act in a genocidal manner. The question here that comes to mind is; what prevents acts like this to occur again?
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ReplyDeleteIn a hypothetical situation If a genocidal situation were to occur in Kuwait. It will happen to the main minority in Kuwait the Bedon, also know as “stateless”. They are estimated around 170 thousands population, born and raised in Kuwait. Personally, I imagine a hypothetical genocidal situation targeting them easily and vividly. Simply because, they have been victims for many decades already, waiting for justice to occur and give them their citizenship and getting their legal rights back. The perpetrator in the case of Bedon have been always government members so probably they will be the same in our hypothetical scenario. Kuwait is a small country located in the Middle of the Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. As a result the kinship lineages could be easily traced back to these three countries. Moreover, because Kuwaitis been outnumbered by the foreigners they tend to keep closed community to protect their identities and privileges as citizens. On the other hand, Bedon come from the same original countries that Kuwaitis come from, they have the same tribal background, but they live in a different way and been isolated systematically since four decades, also they have been othered and stigmatized by the government, mass media and the society. Which could be considered as the root of the problem. The hatred speech announced publicly by the government officers and the decision makers made it really clear to recognize where is this conflict going, and the fact that any kind of human rights activism is being criminalized, so it was common to promote that all Bedon activist are revolutionaries. However, to rational the genocide to the society, the idea of protecting Kuwait requires ending the inner danger and revolution. Considering the fact that Bedon couldn’t be deported to any other country, and their numbers are increasing rapidly, and most of them have nothing to loss when it com to social justice. As always, the international community would be blind sided when it comes to human rights validation from rich countries. So to be honest they will never care about what happens to Bedon as long as Kuwait keeps the situation quiet. The aftermath will be massive decrease in the numbers of Bedons, most of the family will be missing the young members and the elderly will be the majority of Bedon to prevent further existing from happening.
In Raphael Lemkin’s work, he discussed that “priming” is a technique used in genocide where perpetrators target a specific group and gradually start making them weaker by either slowly killing them off, or dehumanizing them to the point where everyone isolates themselves from them. In Kuwait, the Bidoon population are the ones being primed due to several reasons. Politically speaking, the Bidoons were stripped off their rights and can’t even do something simple such as buying a SIM card for their phones. In addition, they can’t vote or participate in any political event nor do they have the rights of free healthcare and education. They also have a different civil ID than Kuwaitis and are not allowed to have a passport or travel. Socially, Bidoons are known to all live in the same areas, which aren’t usually known to be in the best conditions. So usually Kuwaitis decline a Bidoons invitation to come over due to all the stigma behind these places, which incredibly influences a Bidoons social life. Bidoons are also labelled as lower class by Kuwaitis which immediately puts them in the bottom, no matter how successful they are. The marriage part that comes with being Bidoon is quite difficult as well due to women not wanting to marry Bidoon men since their children would automatically be labelled as Bidoon and not get any of the rights Kuwaitis get. Additionally, when it comes to the cultural aspect, despite Bidoons sharing the same language and religion as Kuwaitis, they’re still seen as having a culture that’s more “savage” and “uncivilized” just because they have some of their own traditions. Sadly, most Bidoons don’t do well economically and some are even seen as living in poverty due to the difficulty behind getting a job. Even if a Bidoon gets a university diploma, chances are companies will rarely hire them and they’ll most likely employ a Kuwaiti instead. They’re also hardly ever able to get a government job since Kuwait doesn’t allow them to, so they’re left with working in things like construction and having their children beg for money in traffic lights. Therefore, they’re prone to unstable economic lives and are often struggling to get enough money for a decent living situation and basic necessities. Furthermore, due to all the negative aspects of being a Bidoon and how much their lives have been ruined due to priming, you can find many Bidoon women not wanting to have children since they’d just live miserable lives like them, which can be seen as biological priming. Bidoons are also being physically abused by authorities such as the Kuwaiti police department, and there are many cases of Bidoon men getting beaten to death due to them doing things such as protesting or getting caught doing a simple crime. With all the things that has happened to Bidoons, mass murder is extremely possible and some officials may wake up someday and decide to kill them off until they’re no more, which is an example of possible physical priming. Moreover, when it comes to the religious aspect, they’re no different than regular Kuwaitis in which they practice Islam, however, after the Mosque bombing in 2015, many Kuwaitis thought that a couple of Bidoons were involved, which made Bidoons unwanted in mosques. Finally, due to having their rights taken away from them, many Bidoons have had to let go of their morals in order to be able to get an income and basic necessities and many have resorted to selling drugs and women have also had to go through the hard times of things such as prostitution. Kuwaitis have also let go of their moral beliefs when they took away all Bidoons’ rights instead of treating them like their own. Priming Bidoons to genocide has been done in all these different categories, which makes us wonder if Bidoons will be victims of mass genocide in the near future.
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