Right to return
By Kanwal TARIQ Hameed
Published: 10th September 2006
SIXTY-SIX descendants of a Bahraini man, who fled to Iraq in 1938 after a Sitra land dispute that ended in an alleged attempt on his life, are calling for their “right of return” to Bahrain. Al Haj Saleh bin Ahmad Al Satrawi was the target of an alleged assassination because he refused to give up a large chunk of his land, according to his family.
His 66 children and grandchildren now want to return and are currently living as refugees in Iraq, Kuwait and Europe, according to the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), which has taken up their case.
Right to return
By Kanwal TARIQ Hameed
Published: 10th September 2006
SIXTY-SIX descendants of a Bahraini man, who fled to Iraq in 1938 after a Sitra land dispute that ended in an alleged attempt on his life, are calling for their “right of return” to Bahrain. Al Haj Saleh bin Ahmad Al Satrawi was the target of an alleged assassination because he refused to give up a large chunk of his land, according to his family.
His 66 children and grandchildren now want to return and are currently living as refugees in Iraq, Kuwait and Europe, according to the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), which has taken up their case.
In response to a lawsuit filed in Bahrain by the family, the High Civil Court issued a verdict calling on the General Directorate of Nationality, Pass-ports and Residence (GDNPR) to issue Bahraini passports to them, it said.
Lawyers argued that the defendants were Bahraini by ancestry and according to article four of the 1963 citizenship law, since their father held a Bahraini passport they were entitled to citizenship.
However, the ruling was overturned after an appeal by the Interior Ministry, which said that according to an amendment to the citizenship law, the family was not “considered Bahraini”.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has released certificates entitling family members to refuge because they were deprived of their original citizenship and their right to return to their country, says the BCHR.
“Al Haj Saleh used to hold passport number 19 and citizenship certificate number 438,” said centre president Abdulhadi Al Khawaja.
“(Mr Al Satrawi) used to hold residence identification in the Basra province issued in the year 1939.
“He passed away in Basra in the year 1946, but two of his sons are still alive and they hold the old Bahraini passports.
“The number of children and grandchildren is now almost 100 with most of them still living in Basra, Iraq.”
The Al Satrawi family was granted Iraqi citizenship in 1957, which was then withdrawn in 1986 in a move by the Iraqi government to denaturalise all individuals whose grandparents held residence identification before the population census of 1957.
“We have documents released by the Iraqi government (stating) that the children of Al Haj Saleh Al Satrawi are not Iraqis, but are holders of Bahraini citizenship,” Mr Al Khawaja said.
“That greatly influenced the way they were treated by official bodies, their children’s studies in university, job applications and even in getting ration cards during the economic blockade on Iraq.
“Some children were also not issued residence cards and are currently working in low-level jobs despite the fact that some of them hold university degrees.
“The children of Al Haj Saleh took many risks to supply food and deliver wax sealed correspondences between the Bahraini embassies in Kuwait and Baghdad (during the war),” he added.
“They received a letter of certificate regarding that from the ambassador.”
The family is still without a passport or civilian rights, says the BCHR.
Many of them are willing to renounce any old properties belonging to their ancestors, in return for the right to come back to Bahrain and secure a Bahraini citizenship.
“After the Iraqi regime’s downfall, I was on a visit to Basra with a delegation from Amnesty International (AI) and they (Al Satrawi family) came to present their case,” said Mr Al Khawaja.
“They are currently in touch with the BCHR and have requested us to follow-up their case.
“The case of Al Haj Saleh Al Satrawi’s family is not an isolated one,” he added.
“Through this case the governorship of law can be tested, as well as the nature of the Bahraini citizenship law and its efficiency.”
The now 62-year-old grandson of Al Haj Saleh bin Ahmad Al Satrawi, who has been living in London with his family for the last six years, said he had been trying for Bahraini citizenship since 1987.
“Naturally we want to return,” said Tawfiq Al Satrawi, who was born in Basra and later fled to Kuwait during the Gulf war.
“Bahrain is our country, we have never felt that there was any other country in the world for us.
“These countries, these societies are not ours – even here in London I have not really integrated into society.
“I still speak Arabic because this is the language of my motherland and the language of the Quran – no other language, whether it is English, French, or whatever, could hold the same meaning for me.”
© Gulf Daily News
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