KUWAIT: Minister
of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh said yesterday that the government
is determined to find a lasting solution for the decades-old problem of the
stateless people or 'bedoons'. Saleh said the desired solution will be reached
in cooperation of the national assembly and will take into consideration
security, humanitarian, cultural and economic situation of the country.

The minister
recalled the call of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on
the two authorities to resolve the problem of bedoons who have been living in
the country for over a half century and claim the right to Kuwaiti citizenship.

Some 120,000
bedoons live in Kuwait and say they are Kuwaitis while the government insists
that only some of them qualify for consideration to be naturalized. Several MPs
have proposed a draft law granting bedoons full humanitarian and civil rights
until their issue can be resolved. National Assembly speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem
said last month that the desired solution for the bedoons problem will be
reached this summer or at the start of the new assembly term next October.

In the meantime,
MP Khalil Al-Saleh yesterday sent a question to Minister of State for Economic
Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel inquiring about the number of Kuwaiti employees who
resigned from the private sector since the beginning of 2017.

Additionally, he
asked about the number of Kuwaitis who resigned from the private sector and
where either appointed in government jobs, reappointed in the private sector or
just retired. Saleh also asked about rumors that Kuwaitis shun private sector
jobs and asked for the reasons, and asked if the government has conducted a
study on the reasons for the resignation of Kuwaitis from the private sector.