Has the Time Come to Grant Citizenship to the Children of Bahraini Women?

The time has come to grant citizenship to the children of Bahraini women and to stop the discrimination against them in their inability to pass on their nationality to their children. Many children of Bahraini mothers with non-Bahraini fathers have been forced to leave Bahrain and be separated from their mothers and those residing in Bahrain face deprivation of their civil and political rights.

The time has come for an initiative from the state to say to these mothers and their children: ‘’The right to grant citizenship to children is guaranteed to you.’’ The state must affirm that all citizens on its territory enjoy the same rights and duties without discrimination based on gender, and must provide the dignity due to every individual, as stated in the Bahraini constitution (article 4): Justice is the basis of governance, and cooperation and compassion are strong bonds between citizens, and freedom, equality, security, reassurance, knowledge, social solidarity, and equal opportunities among citizens are pillars of society guaranteed by the state. Therefore, it is necessary to amend the Bahraini citizenship law to ensure equality between men and women in the rights to grant citizenship to their children.

This is an invitation addressed to government officials, members of the legislative authority, the Supreme Council for Women, institutions and organizations concerned with human rights, as well as civil society organisations.

Current Bahraini laws indicate that a Bahraini woman married to a non-Bahraini cannot pass on her nationality to her children or husband. The Bahraini Nationality Law exclusively grants men the right to pass on their nationality to their wives if they so desire, which discriminates against Bahraini women who are not granted the same rights by law. The law stipulates that a Bahraini woman cannot pass on her nationality to her children if the father is a non-Bahraini, which contradicts Article 5 of the Bahraini Constitution, which stipulates equality between women and men in the political, social, cultural and economic spheres. The National Action Charter also stipulates equality between citizens before the law and non-discrimination based on gender. This discrimination contradicts international laws and human rights conventions, as the Kingdom of Bahrain has reservations on Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Discrimination against Bahraini women in granting their nationality to their children has resulted in negative repercussions on the family in general and children in particular. In some cases, it has led to the children being stateless and being deprived of public services and basic rights. These include the children of a Bahraini mother married to a father whose nationality has been revoked or withdrawn or who is stateless, as is the case with the Bahraini mother (S.A.A.) married to (Y.H.J.), a stateless man. Their marriage has lasted 24 years and they have 7 children. The mother applied for citizenship for her children, but has not received any response so far! 

On August 26, the Bahraini Ministry of Interior issued a statement stating that the committee responsible for reviewing all cases of those who obtained Bahraini citizenship in violation of the law has excluded the children of a Bahraini woman married to a foreigner, as well as the foreign woman who obtained Bahraini citizenship and is married to a Bahraini man, in light of the criteria of the Bahraini Nationality Law of 1963 and its amendments.

It is worth noting that there are ongoing efforts by human rights organizations, women’s unions and prominent figures in Bahrain to amend the nationality law to ensure equality between men and women in the right to grant citizenship to their children. We hope that these efforts will continue and be supported by society and all concerned parties to ensure equality and justice for all Bahraini citizens. 

Finally, there must be a serious initiative by the state to amend the Bahraini nationality law to ensure equality between men and women in the right to grant citizenship to their children, and achieve dignity and justice for all citizens without discrimination, which is one of the goals of sustainable development and requires the enactment of legislation to eliminate gender discrimination in nationality laws, in addition to being a matter related to basic rights, removing this discrimination will have profound positive effects on many affected citizens.

Noting that a number of MPs have submitted a draft law to amend the Bahraini Nationality Law of 1963, whereby the amendment stipulates the right of the children of a Bahraini woman married to a foreigner to obtain their mother’s nationality by birthright, in accordance with Article 4 of the Bahraini law on lineage and that this amendment addresses the status of children born to a Bahraini mother and a foreign father before the amendment comes into effect. 

That would enhance Bahrain’s global position in the field of human rights, as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) after discussing the Kingdom of Bahrain’s fourth report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women recommended the Kingdom to provide a timeline for adopting the nationality law amendment that would allow a Bahraini woman married to a foreigner to pass on Bahraini nationality to her children under certain conditions.

• *Translation of an article published in Delmon Post in Manama – Bahrain 

https://www.delmonpost.com/post/del-530