History Line
Dateline: Middle East
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The Middle East is an environment where war has found residence for millennia. War comes with bbloodshed, destructions, displacements and indiscriminate losses. This piece deals with the Exodus of Palestinians from Kuwait in the aftermath of the Iraq- Kuwait War of 1990.
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The mass exodus and expulsion of Palestinians from Kuwait primarily took place during and immediately after the 1990–1991 Gulf War, following the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
Context and Timeline
Pre-War Population: Before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, approximately 350,000 to 400,000 Palestinians lived and worked in Kuwait, making up a significant portion of the country’s workforce and professional sectors.
Following Iraq’s invasion, the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Yasser Arafat, politically aligned with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The Exodus and Expulsion (1990–1991):
During the 7-month Iraqi occupation, roughly half of the Palestinian population fled Kuwait due to harsh conditions, fear, and economic disruptions.
After Kuwait was liberated by a U.S.-led coalition in March 1991, the Kuwaiti government and populace expressed intense anger and resentment over the PLO’s wartime stance.
The Kuwaiti authorities enacted policies that forced out remaining Palestinians or prevented those who had fled during the war from returning. This included systematic pressure, mass firings, denial of re-entry permits, and direct judicial or extrajudicial deportations.
Aftermath: By late 1991, the Palestinian population in Kuwait had plummeted from around 350,000 to roughly 150,000, and it continued to drop significantly in subsequent years (eventually reaching a low of around 80,000 in later decades).
Relations between Kuwait and Palestinian leadership remained severely strained for years until official apologies and diplomatic normalization steps began decades later, notably with Mahmoud Abbas apologizing for the PLO’s stance during a visit in 2004.
