New citizens add to Bahrainis' cup of woes

Manama: A deputy from Al Wefaq Society has warned that Bahrain's naturalisation policies were compounding a difficult situation for thousands of Bahrainis.

"The authorities should not have granted the Bahraini nationality to thousands of people when there are more than 48,000 housing applications pending at the ministry of housing and when thousands are living under the poverty line," Hasan Sultan yesterday said in a statement sent to Gulf News.

The deputy who was elected last year alongside 16 other members from Al Wefaq said that the naturalisation policies gravely restricted people's chances to join the university or to find jobs.

"The addition of thousands of new citizens reduces the quality of services and undermines the Islamic and Arabic character of the Bahraini identity," he said.

According to the deputy, authorities gave 38,000 people the Bahraini citizenship between 2002 and 2006.

"A study that looked at the 2001 census figures and at the 2006 election figures, both from official institutions, indicated that there were 38,225 extra Bahrainis above the age of 20. This figure can be attributed only to the naturalisation process," he said.

Bahraini officials and the opposition have been at odds for years over the issue.

The opposition has charged that naturalisation was politically-driven and that the government was doling out the citizenship to migrants from other Arab countries, mainly Syria, Jordan and Yemen, as well as India and Pakistan in order to win supporters and manipulate the demographic balance.

Claims denied

But Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa last year said that Bahrain's naturalisation procedures were apolitical and denied claims they had been accelerated.

According to the minister, 50,000 applicants were granted Bahraini citizenship in the last five decades and less than 5,000 Asians were given Bahraini passports in the past 56 years.

A strong rumour swept Bahrain early this month claiming that thousands of Iraqis who supported former president Saddam Hussain would be encouraged to live and work in the kingdom. The authorities dismissed the claim as baseless and lacking credibility.