Bahrain Centre for Human Rights: April 3, 2007
The BCHR is concerned at the news of confrontations and fights involving the use of makeshift weapons and knives between local and ‘naturalised’ students of Arab origin.
The latest incident reportedly took place last week at Hamad Town Secondary School for boys. A series of fights between the two groups has led to police intervention on several occasions, indicating the growing seriousness of this problem .
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights: April 3, 2007
The BCHR is concerned at the news of confrontations and fights involving the use of makeshift weapons and knives between local and ‘naturalised’ students of Arab origin.
The latest incident reportedly took place last week at Hamad Town Secondary School for boys. A series of fights between the two groups has led to police intervention on several occasions, indicating the growing seriousness of this problem .
During this incident a student was injured as a result of a knife attack by a Another student and was taken to hospital for treatment. A local newspaper quoted the injured student’s father as saying: “There is an ongoing ethnic clash taking place in schools these days, and this is not the first such incident” .
The victim’s father reportedly appealed to the Bahrain Ministry of Education to take concrete measures to end ethnic tensions and related attacks in schools. According to the same newspaper, teachers expressed concerns and worries about intervening in such incidents, for fear of being targeted themselves.
Last month (March 7) at East Riffa Secondary school for boys eight ‘naturalised’ students of Arab origin were involved in a fight with two locals. In that incident two students were hospitalized for treatment and Another eight students were taken to police station.
“We are witnessing an unprecedented increase in the rate of such clashes between ethnic groups among young Bahrainis in public schools”, BCHR president Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja said.
“This is extremely disturbing. It highlights the dangers of the Bahraini authorities practice of political naturalisation.”
The leaked Al Bandergate reports revealed earlier this year and last year showed that the Bahraini Authorities are actively promoting sectarian discord. The authorities are working to alter Bahrain’s demographics by carrying out mass naturalisation and granting Bahraini citizenship to thousands of tribal Sunnis from other countries.
“Such measures create friction among communities which otherwise live together peacefully”, Mr Al-Khawaja added. “Even those who have been through the legal process of naturalisation are put in a position of vulnerability. These people, who are a part of the Bahraini community, now face attacks from those who are resentful towards the government’s flawed policies.
“It is essential to understand and promote the message that Bahrainis who have been illegally ‘naturalised’ Bahrainis and locals are suffering
The BCHR:
- Calls on Bahrain’s community to practice tolerance and reject the sectarian agenda being imposed upon us by the authorities
- Calls on the Education Ministry to investigate the attacks in schools and bring those responsible to Justice.
- Teachers in public schools to tackle the issues in their classrooms, through education and open discussion promoting tolerance , an anti-sectarian and anti-hatred culture.
- Urges local human rights groups, political organisations and local NGOs to tackle the issue of sectarianism/ ethnic tensions from all angles, including attacks on expatriates and naturalized citizens in Bahrain as a results of anger towards government policies
Related to the Al Bandergate issue, the BCHR:
- strongly urges the Bahraini Authorities to cease the practice of discriminatory extra-legal mass naturalisation,
- demands that the authorities cease the implementation of the shocking, discriminatory and dangerous practices detailed in the Al-Bandergate reports.
- reiterates its call for an independent and honest commission to investigate the findings of Al-Bandergate reports, and
- asks for perpetrators mentioned in Al-Bandergate reports to be brought to justice.
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