Editorial: Government of Foreigners in Bahrain

2023-06-01 - 10:57 p

Expatriates in Bahrain have the right to dance and rejoice on the ruler's accession day in Bahrain every year. They enjoy the right to consider it the best country in the world that welcomes foreigners. It is a government that prefers foreigners to its citizens, and this does not happen elsewhere in the world. Bahrain is an exception. 

Policies favoring foreigners and enabling them to work and find job opportunities, as well as reducing the cost of living for them, while increasing it for citizens, are all policies that overshadow public life in the country. This has driven citizens to frustration and anger.

The executive branch, which is the government, refuses to address the problems of wages, poverty, unemployment, job discrimination and difficult living conditions for citizens, and on the other hand, refuses to impose any additional fees, taxes or costs on expatriates to create revenues that would help the country's deteriorating finances, noting that the number of foreigners exceeds that of citizens, as they constitute 52.2% with more than 758,000 expatriates living in the country, according to the 2021 statistics.

The legislative authority, i.e. the parliament, is drowning in disintegration, lack of powers, boldness and a clear parliamentary work plan, as well as rampant personal greed among members, while the Shura Council has nothing to do with citizens, as it represents those who appointed it and has proven this throughout its history.

As for citizens, they ask: Why does the interest of sheikhs and merchants take precedence over the interests of the homeland and the people? Why is the interest of expatriates more important than ours? Why are the people, the source of powers, and the rightful owners of the wealth and resources that God has bestowed upon this country, being deprived of power and wealth?

The issue of increasing unemployment is on the verge of explosion, yet the government categorically refuses to impose the only real solution to that problem, which is the "Bahrainization of jobs", as the government's only real program being implemented is the "foreignization of jobs". 

In Bahrain, there are thousands of unemployed university graduates of medicine, nursing and technology-related specialties. There are 900 unemployed engineers, and hundreds of unemployed teachers.

The budget meetings between the government and the MPs carry news confirming that the government of Bahrain does not want to listen to anyone, and was able to easily impose what it deems appropriate only. It gave them scraps and some of them came out to tell people about a fabricated achievement.

A government that will somehow increase wages with one hand, and take with the other hand more fees and bills. It is not unlikely to impose even more taxes. If there is an objection, the government has the tools to punish those who oppose. 

The government of foreigners is the proper name for the government of this awful era, a government that considers the people of Bahrain a burden on its shoulders, the government that is mired in theft, paralysis, corruption and failure. The worst government among the Gulf Cooperation Council states is the government of Bahrain, and the saddest people in the region are the people run by this government.

Arabic Version