Kuwait is an emirate ruled by the Sabah family. The monarchy holds executive power and dominates most state institutions. Prior to its dissolution in 2024, the elected parliament played an influential role and often challenged the government. State authorities impose some constraints on civil liberties, including speech and assembly, and the country’s large population of noncitizen workers faces particular disadvantages.

• The authorities continued to punish political dissent during the year. In April, for example, the Court of Appeal issued rulings in the cases of five former members of parliament and two former candidates who had been convicted on charges that included “insulting the emir” in connection with their opposition to the dissolution of the elected legislature in 2024. Five of the seven men received prison terms ranging from two to four years, and the sentences of the remaining two were suspended.
• Mohammed al-Barghash—a prominent activist on behalf of Kuwait’s population of stateless people, known as bidoon—was detained in June after using the social media platform X to publicize his request for a meeting with the interior minister about the bidoon issue; he was charged with state security offenses. Al-Barghash had faced a series of prosecutions in the past, most recently securing an acquittal on slander and false news charges in May.
• Over the course of the year, the country’s attorney general and Supreme Judicial Council promoted women to senior prosecutorial positions for the first time. Such moves were reportedly backed by the emir but had previously been opposed by some Islamist members of parliament.
• The government continued a campaign of citizenship revocations that had begun in 2024, and by late 2025 more than 50,000 people had been stripped of citizenship on the grounds that their status had been obtained fraudulently or otherwise illegally. Those affected were required to surrender their passports by October 1, and many were reportedly rendered stateless as a result of the government actions; Kuwait does not recognize dual citizenship, meaning people obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship must give up their previous nationality. A law that took effect in late 2024 stipulated that the foreign wives of Kuwaiti men could no longer secure citizenship through marriage, and expanded the government’s authority to revoke citizenship on security grounds or for various criminal offenses. Among other prominent individuals who lost their citizenship during the year was preacher, media figure, and businessman Tareq al-Suwaidan, who had been associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
• Authorities also persisted with a crackdown on migrant workers, arresting and deporting hundreds of people for alleged violations of a new immigration law, Decree No. 114, that was issued in November 2024 and took effect in January. Among other vague provisions, the law allowed deportations when “necessary for the public interest, security, or morals.” At the same time, beginning in July, migrant workers seeking to travel outside of Kuwait were required to obtain permission from their employers via an online portal or phone application operated by the Interior Ministry.

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For additional background information, see the reports from the 2024 and 2025 editions of Freedom in the World.