Manama: The National Committee of People Deprived of Citizenship and Al Ekha National Society have launched a campaign to increase awareness about the suffering of those without citizenship, known as bidoons.
The panel's member Adel Abu Shamla told Gulf News yesterday the campaign aims to mobilise public opinion and exert pressure on the authorities to help the individuals and families who have been living in Bahrain, "their only home", for a long time. The campaign also aims to review all the cases and the criteria based on which applications for citizenship have been rejected.
"We are dealing with the daily dilemma of these people who have no documents to show which countries they hail from," Abu Shamla said. "We have around 180 cases but I'm sure there are many more waiting."
The committee, formed by a group of human rights in May 2005, aims to help the people who were deprived of citizenship following the Naturalisation Law of 1963 and take up the cases with the government.
"These families ... don't have the freedom to travel outside Bahrain for treatment or ... for other reasons," he said. "These individuals and families have also been deprived of the right to contest elections or exercise franchise as well as the right to own homes or apply for housing loans."
"The problem has worsened following government decision to replace their [identity cards] with papers which are not accepted even at health centres," Abu Shamla said.
- The writer is a journalist based in Manama
