Document #1242892
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
1) There are Iranian schools in Kuwait, but
most are privately funded and located in the suburbs of Kuwait City
(the population of the metropolitan area being concentrated mostly
in the suburbs [ Both the Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington, Cultural
and Educational Bureau, (phone conversation with Ms. Elizabeth
Taffesse-Wossen, 28 August 1989) and the Arab League office in
Ottawa (phone conversation with Mr. Fouad Atallah, 28 August 1989)
confirmed the existence of Iranian schools in Kuwait, the private
nature of their funding and their location in the surroundings of
Kuwait City mainly. For factual information on Kuwait City, G.T.
Kurian, ed., 1987, Encyclopedia of the Third World, vol.II,
London: Facts on File: 1113; you will find the report on Kuwait
attached.]). These schools are, however, tightly controlled by the
Kuwaiti government, which supervises the hiring of professors and
the content of curricula [ Kuwaiti Embassy, idem.]. No information
on the precise location of Iranian schools is presently available
to the documentation centre of the Immigration and Refugee Board in
Ottawa. However, Owen (1985: 8) and the Encyclopedia of the
Third World (1987: 1114) state that there is a concentration of
Iranians in Kuwait City where they have their own neighborhood, but
do not specify the exact location of this Iranian quarter. [ It was
a Kuwaiti policy since the early 1950s to set official segregation
between native Kuwaiti and foreign workers, by planning separate
housing zones in Kuwait City (Owen R. 1985, Migrant Workers in
the Gulf, London: Minority Rights Groups: 8). Encyclopedia
of the Third World (1987: 1114) confirms the existence of an
Iranian quarter in Kuwait City.]
Despite the fact that the educational
system in Kuwait is free, compulsory and one of the most modern in
the Arabic world, some restrictions have been imposed on
non-Kuwaiti citizens [ Please find attached The Middle East and
North Africa 1989, London: Europa Publications: 561. The U.S.
Department of State (1989: 1405) states that schooling is offered
only to children of expatriates who arrived in Kuwait before 1957
(U.S., Dept. of State, 1989, Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices in 1988, Washington: Government Printing Office:
1396-1407.]. In recent years, for example, the relationship between
the Kuwaiti Sunites (who retain political power) and the Shi'ite
minority (the majority of which is of Iranian origin) has become
more tense due to the impact of the Iranian revolution on the
Iranians in Kuwait, the disruptive influence of the Iran-Iraq war
and incidents of Iranian-backed terrorist activities in Kuwait
[The Middle East and North Africa 1989: 563, Encyclopedia
of the Third World: 1118, and The Globe and Mail 5
August 1987: A 13, all mention the expulsion of Iranian Shi'ites
from Kuwait suspected of subversion; in addition, an article
attached provides information on Kuwaiti reaction to its Iranian
minority, which the government qualifies as a "fifth column"
(The New York Times, 19 June 1987: A1, "Kuwait's Rich,
Stable Society is Torn by Iraq-Iran Conflict").].
2) The relations between Kuwait and Iran
were few before the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the beginning of
the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. Kuwait now supports Iraq and has
suffered reprisals (terrorist activities, bomb attacks, hijacking,
etc. allegedly carried out by Iranian agents), even though it still
maintains diplomatic relations with Iran and allows Iran to
maintain an embassy in its territory [ The Middle East and North
Africa 1989: 563, 578. Please find attached, for more
information on the relationship between Kuwait and Iran, the
following: The Globe and Mail, 7 April 1988, "Iran, Kuwait
and U.K. Won't Yield to Hijackers"; The New York Times, 31
March 1988, "Kuwait Reports Iranian Strike Wounds 2 on Island
Outpost".]. The deportation of Iranian Shi'ites suspected of being
Hezbollah members in 1984 and Iranian raids against Kuwaiti oil
tankers in 1986 have led to further hostility between the two
countries and to a closer alliance between Kuwait and Iraq [
Ramazani R.K. 1988, "The Iran-Iraq War and the Persian Gulf
Crisis", Current History, 87(526), February 1988: 61-88;
please find this article attached for its detailed account of
Iran-Kuwait relationship.]. Kuwaiti and Iranian armed forces even
clashed for the first time in March 1988 over an Iranian attack of
Bubiyan island, a Kuwaiti island allegedly made available to Iraq
as a military base [ The Middle East and North Africa 1989:
564.]. Since then, however, the relationship between the two
countries has improved; the Iranian embassy in Kuwait has expanded,
while the Kuwaiti embassy in Iran was reopened in September 1988
after having been seized by the Iranian government during the
Iran-Iraq war [Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada, phone
conversation with Mr. Graham MacIntyre, information officer, 30
August 1989).]. Two minor incidents have recently troubled
Iran-Kuwait relations; a Kuwaiti coast guard boat was apprehended
by an Iranian naval division in Iranian waters (location not
specified), and one other boat, with members of the royal family,
was seized by Iranians over the last few months [Ibid.].
Nevertheless, Kuwait has not made an international incident of
these occurrences and is scheduled to appoint an ambassador to Iran
[ Ibid.].
3) Personal documentation, including death
certificates and school records, if they are officially registered,
can be easily obtained from Kuwait, and even from Kuwaiti
representatives in Western nations (Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington
for residents of Canada) [ Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington, Cultural
and Educational Bureau, (phone conversation with Ms. Elizabeth
Taffesse-Wossen, 28 August 1989) and Arab League office in Ottawa
(phone conversation with Mr. Fouad Atallah, 28 August 1989).].
Unlike most other countries, the small number of Kuwaitis residing
abroad and the fact that Kuwait is a wealthy country lead Kuwaiti
Embassies and high commissions to frequently request personal
documentation for their nationals abroad [Kuwaiti Embassy in
Washington, Idem.]. This is also true of non-citizens of
Kuwait who have received personal documentation (such as diplomas)
in Kuwait; school records, even those coming from community schools
(such as those funded by the Iranian community in Kuwait) can also
be obtained without difficulties [Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington,
Idem.]. As for Iranians in Western countries, personal
documentation must be obtained through relatives still in Iran or
by writing to the relevant institutions [ An immigration official
from the Immigration Centre in Longueuil, Québec, stated
that the sole Canadian involvement in providing personal
documentation was limited to criminal files, and that most
immigrants and refugees have to get their birth certificates,
school records, etc., themselves (phone conversation with Mr. J.
Bourque, CIC - Longueuil, 30 August 1989). The Department of
External Affairs of Canada confirmed the fact that Iranians in
Canada have to arrange for their own personal documentation
themselves; the use of relatives as the most general means of
getting personal documentation was also mentioned.]. No written
reference on personal documentation obtained from Kuwait and Iran
for residents of Western nations is available at the Documentation
Centre of the IRB in Ottawa; the oral information on personal
documentation reported above has not been corroborated by publicly
available documents.