Kuwait and Iran - current 1) Information on Iranian schools in Kuwait (where are they located? are they government or privately funded?) 2) What kind of relationship exists between Iran and Kuwait? 3) Is personal documentation (i.e. death certificates, school records, etc.) difficult to obtain from Iran and Kuwait while residing in a Western country? [KWT1882]

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.