The Kurds of #Kuwait. Thread:

The presence of Kurds in Kuwait coincide with the country’s export of crude oil in 1946. During the early 1940s, Kuwait saw an increasing number of Kurdish migrants looking for work and better oppertunities.

Many found work in trading, others in banking while a small number joined the military. Some Kurdish women worked in hospitals as nurses and Kurds were generally respected by the Kuwaitis.

There are a number of Kuwaiti Kurds who rose to prominent positions in Kuwait’s political society, like the family of Said Umeri Kurdi who trace their ancestry back to Izmir in Turkey, the family of Nuri Kurdi, who are originally from başûrî Kurdistan;

And the family of Fazil Kurdi, who’s father and son were both members of parliament. Abdulhussein Abdul Raza, a famous Kuwaiti actor/comedian, trace his Kurdish ancestry back to rojhelat. He passed away in 2017.

The Kurdish families migrating to Kuwait came from all over Kurdistan but most notabily from Iraqi Kurdistan. A large number of Kurds in Kuwait belong to the Borekeyî subgroup of the Caf tribe, and for this reason the Kuwaiti Kurds are sometimes known as “Borekeyî”.

“The Borekeyîs of Kuwait” migrated from Qeredax, Zirgwêz and Siyarûş during the monarchy period in Iraq. Many of whom speak Cafî Kurdish with southern Kelhurî/Feylî influences. In the region of Nuqra Hawli, a area is named “Dawar al-Kurd” after them.

Not much was known about the Kurds in Kuwait until the 1990s, when their life in Kuwait come to an end. When Kuwait was liberated in 1991, the government returned and decided that everyone holding Yemeni, Sudanese, Palestinian and Iraq citizenships would be deported.

The government did not target Kurds specifically but many Kurds in the public sector lost their jobs and the majority of them, depite living in Kuwait for 2-3 generations were forced to migrate to Europe, where a large number settled in UK and Denmark, among many other countries.

The Kurds of Kuwait, although well integrated (and marriage with local Kuwaitis not being uncommon) often kept to themselves and maintained their Kurdish identity, language and culture. They also helped Kurds who deserted the Ba’ath army and went to hiding in Kuwait in the 1980s.

They could not “return” to Iraq in 1991, partly because the Iraq would not recognize them; especially those Kurds born in Kuwait, but also because many Kurds did not dare to go to Iraq in fear of persecution.

Video: Demonstration by the Kurds of Kuwait, 1991.

The Kurds of Kuwait have their own unique identity and story, similar to that of the Baghdadi Kurds. And while many of them feel connected to Kurdistan, Kuwait will always remain their ‘home’.