AhlulBayt News Agency

source : al Wefaq
Monday

18 August 2014

7:42:35 AM
631876

Bahrain naturalized 95k foreigners adding 17.3% to population

Khalil Almarzooq, Political Assistant of Al Wefaq Secretary-General said manipulation in official numbers revealed at least 95,372 foreigners have granted Bahraini nationality. This number makes 17.3% of change in the demography of Bahrain.

Vedio: Almarzooq reveals alarming numbers of naturalization in Bahrain http://bit.ly/YkoTdd

17 Aug 2013
Khalil Almarzooq, Political Assistant of Al Wefaq Secretary-General, has revealed alarming numbers of naturalization in Bahrain, reflected from official statistics provided by the State-run Central Information Organization. He said manipulation in official numbers revealed at least 95,372 foreigners have granted Bahraini nationality. This number makes 17.3% of change in the demography of Bahrain.
The numbers were revealed in a press conference held at Al Wefaq headquarters, Sunday August 16th, 2014. Almarzooq further said, “Changing the demography to make the majority minority is considered in international rules somewhat close to genocide against the indigenous people of Bahrain, both Sunnis and Shiites”. He added, “The practice of naturalization with this pace poses a serious threat to the identity of the country in the coming two decades, where the majority will become minority by 2040″, he added.
The opposition parties launched a campaign on Twitter under the hash-tag “#ReplacingBHpeople” aiming to highlight information about the political naturalization carried out by the regime in Bahrain and to lay forth programs to deal with this disastrous problem.

Ruthless official manipulation with numbers of naturalization
Almarzooq highlighted that there is a blatant official manipulation with the numbers of naturalization that are only known by the CIO. “There have been attempts to hide such alarming numbers”, Almarzooq said, “Official statistics in 2006 say that Bahrain population in 2001 was 407619, this number was changed to 407619 in 2009 and then to 409619 in 2011″ he added. He said that manipulation in State-statistics reveals a huge change in the Bahraini demography between 2002 and 2014. “Official numbers suggest that there has been a 17.3% change in Bahrain demography by distributing 95,000 nationalities to foreigners”, Almarzooq added. He emphasized that the indigenous people of Bahrain will become a minority whereas the naturalized people will make 40% in the coming two decades.

Naturalization is a crime against Sunnis and Shiites
Almarzooq warned the regime of transforming Bahrain to a sectarian country which will later pose a real threat to everyone. “If the Al-Khalifa ruling family thinks that this naturalization will provide protection for the dynasty, it’s wrong, it will be more conferenced by the consequence of demographic change than it is today. Once the native Bahrainis, Sunnis and Shiites become a minority, the ruling family will find the new situation risky”, he added.

Naturalization harms social and financial security

Almarzooq noted that these numbers are reflected in real life on ground, and whoever will be ruling Bahrain in the future in the government or parliamentary council, must bear in mind the problems resulting from manipulating the demography of the nation. “What is happening is adding problems to the country and will result in more losses in the future. We all have to stand against this naturalization and take serious steps to stop it nationally and raise the issue to the UN and the international community”.

GCC and international community should see political naturalization as a threat to security
Almarzooq highlighted that neighboring countries in the Gulf Council and the international community should see the naturalization in Bahrain as a threat to regional security due to the fact that many of those new “citizens” carry dangerous terrorist doctrines and believes.
“This campaign stems from patriotic insights, not sectarian or racial ones. It aims to show how dangerous naturalization is, its effects and consequences and to find solutions to the problem to maintain the security and safety of Bahrain and the region as a whole”, he said, “With political naturalization, there will not be a near political solution. Our aspirations will not be fulfilled if this continues”, he said highlighting the changing effect to electoral districts and elections.

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