Bahrain group pushes for citizenship rights

Manama: Activists in Bahrain have agreed to push for the right of women married to foreigners to pass their citizenship to their children.

The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) said that it would put forward amendments to the Citizenship Law to the parliament for review when the lawmakers reconvene following their summer recess.

Currently, only men can pass on their citizenship to their children and women activists have been calling for a change of the law to allow them the same right.

The local media often publish letters by Bahraini women married to expatriates requesting assistance for their children who have not been granted Bahraini citizenship even though they were born in Bahrain and lived for years, sometimes for decades, in the kingdom.

The National Institution for Human Rights was set up in 2009 to help boost the human rights culture in Bahrain and protect people’s rights.