The Gulf state of Kuwait has "little respect" for the rights of more than 100,000 stateless people, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday after releasing its World Report 2012 on Kuwait.

"Punishing bidoons (stateless) for protesting while refusing to act on their citizenship claims shows how little respect the government has for their rights," HRW deputy Middle East director Joe Stork said in a statement.

"Following decades of broken promises, Kuwait needs to act now to address the plight of the bidoons," who are demanding citizenship and other basic rights, he said.

Hundreds of stateless people in Kuwait in February 2011 began staging demonstrations demanding citizenship, HRW said.

The interior ministry warned them not to protest and violently dispersed several demonstrations using water cannons, tear gas, smoke bombs, and sound bombs, it said.

Around 150 stateless protesters are facing trial for illegal assembly and assaulting policemen. The first rulings are expected next month.

Kuwait says that only 34,000 out of the 105,000 bidoons in the Gulf state are eligible for citizenship, while the remaining 71,000 are citizens of other countries who must produce their original passports.