E/CN.4/1997/71/Add.2 page 3 8. Less than 20 per cent of the country's manpower is Kuwaiti, although 10,000 graduates are unemployed; some point to this as proof of Kuwait's openness and generosity towards foreigners. But is it not rather a question of national policy? 9. Is it fair to speak of racial discrimination or xenophobia in Kuwait? The answer must be qualified, since it is the social system which leads to the exploitation of unskilled and, in particular domestic workers, most of them women, and to the marginalization of the Bidun. However, xenophobic tendencies are beginning to appear and are strengthened by the attitudes of the rich towards the poor. Kuwait still needs foreign manpower, both skilled and unskilled, but the country feels crushed under the weight of foreigners. There is a segment of society which considers that the nation's cultural identity must be preserved and is pressuring the Government to provide it with a “separate and protected life”. Since social services such as education and health are free, some Kuwaitis feel that the well-being of foreigners is being placed before their own. For example, Kuwaitis feel disadvantaged when they want to see a doctor and learn that all appointments have been taken by foreigners. For that reason, the general public is demanding separate hospitals and doctors whose only patients are Kuwaitis; some are calling for separate neighbourhoods. 10. The Government is resisting these xenophobic tendencies, which manifest themselves as fear and rejection of foreigners and a wish to live separately from them; it has refused to build hospitals for foreigners, separate from those for nationals, though there is housing for foreign workers. Thus far, no racist or xenophobic statements have been noted, but the issue of the Bidun remains unresolved. 11. The legislation on nationality is discriminatory in that it establishes a hierarchy of citizenship. Those who acquired Kuwaiti nationality by virtue of having settled in the country prior to 1920 are full citizens, while those who acquired nationality in other ways do not enjoy the full range of civil and political rights. Furthermore, the child of a Kuwaiti woman married to a Bidun or a foreigner is not Kuwaiti. Kuwaiti nationality is granted at the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior and, as such, does not benefit from any judicial guarantees. Generally speaking, Kuwaiti nationality is considered a privilege, not a right. I. SITUATION OF MIGRANT WORKERS 12. The first part of this report will deal with migrant workers, their recruitment and working conditions and, in particular, their treatment, which gives rise to allegations of racial discrimination and xenophobia or of human rights violations in general. 13. There are serious problems with regard to the situation of foreign and, particularly, unskilled workers, including domestic workers of Asian origin, most of whom are women. Their status is not governed by any single body of legislation, and their fate is wholly in the hands of their employers and the administration; they enjoy no protection under the law. Many employers mistreat their servants, who often flee and take refuge in the embassies of