US-based Bidoon poet, activist says Kuwait deporting her

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — A Bidoon poet and activist who holds U.S. citizenship says that Kuwait planned to deport her against her will after she traveled to the oil-rich nation to visit her family. Mona Kareem, 35, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she was sitting on the floor at Kuwait International Airport after facing interrogation following her arrival on a flight from Beirut. She comes from Kuwait’s so-called Bidoon community, which is largely made up of descendants of desert nomads considered stateless by the government. Kuwaiti officials and the U.S. State Department did not respond to requests for comment.