Pakistan nationals increasing in Bahrain

The number of Pakistani nationals receiving Bahraini citizenship is on the rise, the Pakistani ambassador to Bahrain says.

Jauhar Saleem said that based on official statistics around 30,000 Pakistani nationals are already holding Bahraini passports and 5,000 more are on the waiting list.

However, Bahrain’s main opposition party, al-Wefaq says the number is even higher than that.

The opposition group has described the number as shocking, saying the move is a serious systematic crime against Bahrainis as it endangers the country’s identity, security, resources, and future.

The group has urged the Pakistanis not to abandon their original nationality, calling the process of giving them a Bahraini nationality part of a temporary and dirty political game.

The opposition group has further called on the international community to take measures to help Bahraini people by protecting them from the ruling authority.

Sheikh Ali Salman, the secretary general of al-Wefaq, said in August that the Manama regime is targeting the indigenous population through the naturalization of foreign nationals.

The Shia cleric further noted that the regime policy is aimed at changing Bahrain’s demography.

Salman stated that foreign nationals, mainly from Pakistan, have been recruited as security forces to help the Manama regime crush the popular uprising that erupted in 2011.

According to the opposition bloc, the regime has spent more than USD 5.3 billion to accommodate foreigners over the past decade.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

One month after the start of protests, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to the country to assist the Bahraini regime in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.