Manama: Bahrainis on Saturday called for a ban on the hiring of Bangladeshi workers, hours after the gruesome murder of a Bahraini father of three.
"We have noticed that most of the crimes in this country are perpetrated by people coming from Bangladesh, and the wise thing to do is to stop bringing them to Bahrain," a Bahraini blogger wrote on a website.
"We should have no mercy for the killer and ban other Bangladeshis from coming here out of fear of what they might do to us, exactly what Saudi Arabia and Kuwait did at one time."
Similar calls against Bangladeshi labourers were made last year following the murder of Sana Al Jalahma, a Bahraini woman, by her 29-year-old Bangladeshi cook. The cook, angered by Al Jalahma's remarks, waited hours for her return home to kill her. The murderer was sentenced to death.
However, political activist Ahmad Juma said while the calls to ban Bangladeshis were understandable because of the grisly character of the murder, a nation cannot be punished for the acts of some citizens.
"We sympathise with the family and friends of the victim, but we cannot simply say that no Bangladeshi should be allowed in Bahrain because of this. The criminal should be punished, but the country did nothing wrong," he told Gulf News.
Bahraini Mohammad Hassan Eisa Al Dossary was killed on Friday morning when a Bangladeshi mechanic attacked him with a grinder. Al Dossary, father of three daughters, wanted the mechanic to do some welding work on his car, but the two disagreed over the fee. Witnesses said their argument was over 500 fils (Dh5).
The mechanic fled the garage in Hamad Town, 20 kilometres south of Manama, but was eventually arrested after he called his sponsor who alerted the police and guided them to his hideout.
Bahrain is home to about 70,000 Bangladeshis.
