Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 17
Bahrain Revokes 69 Citizenships, Orders Families Expelled to Iran
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 17

Bahrain Revokes 69 Citizenships, Orders Families Expelled to Iran

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 17

Summary

  • Bahraini officials stripped 69 people and their children of citizenship on April 27, then summoned family heads, seized identification papers and told them to buy plane tickets to Iran.
  • The move followed accusations that they showed disloyalty during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran by “glorifying or sympathizing” with hostile Iranian acts, including sharing videos of missile and drone attacks.
  • Eight affected people told The New York Times many on the list were bewildered by the charges; some said their Persian-rooted families had lived in Bahrain for generations and held no other nationality.
  • That left some families effectively stateless, underscoring a wider crackdown in Bahrain, a close U.S. ally that hosts a major American naval base, on people accused of pro-Iran sympathies.

Insights

Bahrain made its own citizens stateless overnight. Can the world protect families abandoned by their own government?
As a U.S. ally strips citizenship during wartime, is it ensuring security or igniting a new internal crisis?
Iran attacked Amazon data centers in Bahrain. How did commercial tech become a primary target in modern state warfare?