Issues of identity and ethics among stateless Kuwaiti Bidoon forced migrants in Europe

Thesis

Since the early 2000s, thousands of stateless Kuwaiti Bidoon have sought asylum in Europe. A relatively unknown group, the central issue they face is how they are identified collectively and individually. Here there is much uncertainty, not just about the contested history of statelessness in Kuwait in terms of whether the Bidoon are indigenous persons or foreign nationals, but also regarding who is, or is not, a Bidoon. Based on fieldwork primarily in Britain and Sweden, I portray the reckonings around legal-bureaucratic constructions of Bidoon identities through asylum tribunals. Here, a paradox persists whereby the more documentary evidence Bidoon asylum-seekers present in support of their claims, the more they are at risk of being refused protection. As such, some fashion themselves successfully according to institutional expectations, while others, especially those who challenge these identity constructions, are left in long-term precarious limbo and irregularity, neither settled nor deportable from Europe. The thesis discusses how this vulnerability is productive of communal relations as forced migrants weigh ethical dilemmas and deliberate what is the right thing to do, for themselves and their wider political cause. Furthermore, recognising an obligation akin to the ‘dual imperative’ (Jacobsen and Landau 2003) in refugee studies to promote academic knowledge while alleviating suffering and influencing policy, I extend a discussion of ethics and morality to anthropological research, writing, and public engagement in the formal asylum process. Specifically, I suggest a literary ethnography inspired by oral storytelling in the Gulf as an approach to handle uncertainty, secrecy, and anonymisation in social science research. In this context, studying morality and practicing research ethics are conceptually intertwined rather than separate issues. This, I propose, need not lead to a moralising or self-absorbed anthropology. Instead, it offers one form of engaged scholarship attentive to the ordinary and unpredictable in ethical life.

Authors: Bjorklund, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-r5epbjkxk
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: asylum; Bidoon; forced migration; ethics; Kuwait; Sweden; ethnography; anonymity; identity; fieldwork; Britain; morality; statelessness
• Subjects: Anthropology; Law and anthropology