# Kuwait (Somali diaspora)

> Somalis in Kuwait: UNHCR counts since 1984, the 1990–91 Gulf war and its aftermath, Kuwaiti census groups, the Kuwait Fund in Somalia and diplomatic ties.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/kuwait/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## How many Somalis live in Kuwait?

Kuwait's Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) publishes residents by broad nationality group, not by country. At the end of 2021 it counted 39,015 Africans, of whom 73.8% were women, as compiled by the Gulf Labour Markets and Migration programme ([GLMM, from PACI, 2021](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/kuwait-population-by-nationality-group-and-sex-2021/)). Somalis are counted inside that group (same source).

UNHCR counts only refugees and asylum seekers. At the end of 2025 it recorded 115 Somali refugees and 332 Somali asylum seekers in Kuwait ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Kuwait](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)).

Kuwait is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, according to the UN treaty register ([UN Treaty Collection](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en)).

## How has the UNHCR count changed since the 1980s?

UNHCR's yearly figures for Somalis in Kuwait ([UNHCR API, Somalia to Kuwait, 1975 to 2025](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)):

- **1984 and 1985:** 100 and 150 refugees.
- **1993 and 1994:** 2,000 refugees each year.
- **1995 and 1996:** 68 and 65 refugees.
- **1997 to 2005:** between 69 and 162 refugees a year, plus 2,000 people listed as "others of concern".
- **2007 and 2008:** 2,000 refugees each year.
- **2014:** 94 refugees and 557 asylum seekers, the highest asylum-seeker figure.
- **2016:** 421 refugees, the highest refugee figure since 2008.
- **2025:** 115 refugees and 332 asylum seekers.

UNHCR also recorded 66 Somali refugees returning home from Kuwait in 1994 to 1996 ([UNHCR solutions API, Kuwait](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)).

## How long have Somalis lived in Kuwait?

In a February 2013 interview, Somalia's long-serving ambassador called Somalis one of the oldest expatriate communities in Kuwait ([Times Kuwait, 17 February 2013](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future)). He said some had lived there for over fifty years, and that a once sizeable community had dwindled (same source). He added that Somali children could enrol in Kuwaiti schools and colleges.

For the wider history of work migration to the Gulf, see [Saudi Arabia](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/) and [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/).

## What happened to Somalis in the 1990–91 Gulf war?

Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. After Iraqi forces left in February 1991, Kuwaiti forces and armed civilians arrested people they suspected of collaborating with Iraq, according to Amnesty International ([Amnesty International, MDE 17/002/1992, 1 October 1992](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE17/002/1992/en/)). Amnesty said the victims were mainly non-Kuwaitis, and listed Somalis among them with Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Sudanese, Yemenis and stateless Bidun (same source).

Martial law ran until 26 June 1991, Amnesty reported (same source). Middle East Watch estimated that more than 6,000 people were detained between 27 February and the end of November 1991 ([Human Rights Watch World Report 1992, Kuwait](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW2.htm)). It said more than 1,500 residents were deported from March to August, and thousands more after that (same source).

Neither report gives a separate figure for Somalis. UNHCR's count of 2,000 Somali refugees in Kuwait appears in 1993 and 1994 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW)). For what was happening in Somalia at the same time, see [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/).

## How has Kuwait funded projects in Somalia?

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has worked in Somalia since 1975, the Somali ambassador said in 2013 ([Times Kuwait, 2013](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future)).

- **Before 1991:** four loans worth KD 28.8 million (US$98.1 million) for electricity and farming, plus two technical loans, said the Kuwait News Agency ([Hiiraan Online, citing KUNA, October 2013](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Oct/41525/kuwait_to_give_usd_10_mln_in_loans_to_somalia.aspx)).
- **October 2013:** new loans of US$10 million for Garowe airport and [Maakhir](/en/history/warsangali-sultanate/) University (same source).
- **2011:** Kuwait airlifted food aid during the drought and famine, the ambassador said ([Times Kuwait, 2013](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future)).
- **April 2022:** the Fund and Somalia's federal government signed a debt-relief agreement under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative ([Kuwait Times, 26 April 2022](https://kuwaittimes.com/kfaed-inks-deal-with-somalia-relating-to-debt-burdened-countries)). The paper said it restored relations disrupted for close to thirty years (same source).

## Who represents Somalia in Kuwait?

Somalia keeps an embassy in Kuwait City. On 9 October 2024 Ambassador Dr. Abdullahi Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdullahi presented his credentials to the Amir, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, at Bayan Palace ([Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 October 2024](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-kuwait-presents-credentials-to-the-emir-of-kuwait/)).

Kuwait does not appear among the 45 countries from which Somali migrant returnees came in 2020 to 2024, in the national statistics bureau's list ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Migration Statistics Report 2025](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf)).

Money also flows home from the Gulf. Individuals abroad sent Somalia US$3.13 billion in 2025, by the central bank's count, which does not break the total down by country ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

## Related pages

- [Somali diaspora hub](/en/diaspora/)
- [Saudi Arabia (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/saudi-arabia/)
- [Qatar (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/qatar/)
- [UAE (Dubai)](/en/diaspora/uae-dubai/)
- [Oman (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/oman/)
- [Yemen (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/yemen/)
- [The 1988 war in the north and the 1991 collapse](/en/diaspora/somalis-leave-1988-1991/)
- [Refugee papers and status](/en/diaspora/refugee-papers-and-status/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. Gulf Labour Markets and Migration (GLMM). "Kuwait: Population by nationality group and sex (2021)", from PACI. [gulfmigration.grc.net](https://gulfmigration.grc.net/kuwait-population-by-nationality-group-and-sex-2021/). Checked 12 November 2026.
2. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, Somalia to Kuwait, 1975 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=1975&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW). Checked 12 November 2026.
3. UNHCR. Refugee Data Finder API, solutions (returns), Somalia from Kuwait, 1990 to 2025. [api.unhcr.org](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/solutions/?limit=200&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=KUW). Checked 12 November 2026.
4. United Nations Treaty Collection. "Convention relating to the Status of Refugees", status of participants. [treaties.un.org](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-2&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en). Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Times Kuwait. "Somalia – Optimistic about the future" (interview with the Somali ambassador). 17 February 2013. [timeskuwait.com](https://timeskuwait.com/news/somalia-optimistic-about-the-future). Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Amnesty International. "Kuwait: Cases of 'disappearance', incommunicado detention, torture and extrajudicial execution under Martial Law." MDE 17/002/1992, 1 October 1992. [amnesty.org](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE17/002/1992/en/). Checked 12 November 2026.
7. Human Rights Watch (Middle East Watch). World Report 1992, Kuwait chapter. [hrw.org](https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW2.htm). Checked 12 November 2026.
8. [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), citing Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). "Kuwait to give USD 10 mln in loans to Somalia." October 2013. [hiiraan.com](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Oct/41525/kuwait_to_give_usd_10_mln_in_loans_to_somalia.aspx). Checked 12 November 2026.
9. Kuwait Times. "KFAED inks deal with Somalia relating to debt-burdened countries." 26 April 2022. [kuwaittimes.com](https://kuwaittimes.com/kfaed-inks-deal-with-somalia-relating-to-debt-burdened-countries). Checked 12 November 2026.
10. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Somalia. "Somalia's new ambassador to Kuwait presents credentials to the Emir of Kuwait." 9 October 2024. [web.mfa.gov.so](https://web.mfa.gov.so/somalias-new-ambassador-to-kuwait-presents-credentials-to-the-emir-of-kuwait/). Checked 12 November 2026.
11. Somalia National Bureau of Statistics. "Migration Statistics Report", second edition, 2025. [nbs.gov.so](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Migration-Statistics-Report-2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.
12. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2025." 2026. [centralbank.gov.so](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). Checked 12 November 2026.

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