Bahrain has revoked the citizenship of dozens of people it accused of sympathising with Iran and “aiding foreign entities”.
At least 69 people had their citizenship stripped, according to a directive issued by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
The decision was based on an article in Bahraini nationality law which allows for revocation on the grounds of “causing harm to the interests of the kingdom or acting in a manner contrary to the duty of loyalty to it”.
The 69 people include those accused of breaching that article, as well as their dependent family members.
The directive said those affected had expressed sympathy for and glorified “heinous Iranian hostile acts” or engaged in “espionage with foreign entities”.
CLICK FOLLOW: TO FOLLOW US
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on
Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other eSPORTY
It said that all of the 69 were “of non-Bahraini origin”.
Campaigners told Middle East Eye that many of those named were Ajami, a term referring to longstanding communities in Gulf Arab states whose ancestors migrated from southern Iran.
‘This is a tool the Al Khalifa ruling family has used for decades to target dissidents, as well as the wider Shia population in the country’
– Maryam al-Khawaja, Bahraini-Danish activist
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, or Bird, said it was the first such mass revocation in over seven years.
Between 2012 and 2019, Bahrain revoked the citizenship of at least 990 nationals, rendering them stateless under international law. Many of them were human rights defenders, journalists and religious scholars.
In April 2019, King Hamad announced the reinstatement of the citizenship of 551 of them.
“The Bahrain regime is yet again using citizenship revocation as a tool of oppression,” Maryam al-Khawaja, a Bahraini-Danish activist, told Middle East Eye.
“This is a tool the Al Khalifa ruling family has used for decades to target dissidents, as well as the wider Shia population in the country.”
Khawaja said that there had been no due process in the decision, and that many people and their families were now living in Bahrain stateless.
“This leaves them unable to access governmental schooling, healthcare and housing,” she said.
Bahrain following Kuwait’s lead
Bird’s Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei told MEE that many of those named were not arrested or interrogated, and have no information about what caused authorities to take the decision.
He said that there was no due process to challenge or appeal the decision, “making people very vulnerable to abuse and leading to families being torn apart”.
The decision was taken days after King Hamad led a high-level meeting with senior officials to discuss measures to crack down on nationals accused of having “betrayed the nation”.
‘Down with the king’: Death of Bahraini in custody sparks angry dissent
Read More »
The announcement came a few days after the king met with Kuwait’s foreign minister.
Kuwait has for months been stripping citizenship from nationals, in what campaigners have said could affect hundreds of thousands of people.
That process has accelerated in recent weeks since the war on Iran broke out.
“Unfortunately, since the beginning of the war on Iran, the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] regimes have taken this as an opportunity to crack down even harder,” said Khawaja.
In retaliation for the US-Israeli war launched two month ago, Iran fired thousands of missiles and drones at Gulf states, including Bahrain.
Explosions from direct impacts and fires from falling debris after anti-missile interception have been reported across the island. At least three people have been killed and scores wounded.
The war has also been accompanied by a domestic crackdown by Bahraini authorities.
More than 200 people have been arrested since the war began, Bird has documented. The actual number may be higher due to enforced disappearances.
Some of the arrests have been in connection with protests, while many are to do with social media posts, including posting footage of Iranian attacks online.
Mohamed al-Mosawi, 32, died in custody last month after being forcibly disappeared along with several of his friends in connection with the Iran war.
Mosawi’s corpse had bruises and marks all across the face and body, photographs and footage seen by Middle East Eye showed. The death sparked angry protests, as demonstrators accused authorities of torturing him to death.
A few days ago, investigators in Bahrain charged an intelligence officer over assault during the interrogation leading to Mosawi’s death.
