Responding to government determination to violate human rights, civil society organisations appeal to world leaders to help end citizenship stripping in Bahrain

Dismayed by Government of Bahrain’s (GoB) determination to violate its international human rights obligations, on 1 May 2026, 12 human rights organisations appealed directly to the UN Secretary General, the High Commissioner, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Barham Salih; the organisation’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the EU’s High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas; and the UK’s Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary. In the course of 1 May, none of these organisations had replied to the coalition nor did they appear to take any action.

The coalition of NGOs that co-signed this initiative comprised, in alphabetical order in English:

- ALQST for Human Rights

- Bahrain Forum for Human Rights

- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

- CIVICUS

- Gulf Center for Human Rights

- Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights

- Hawiati – MENA Statelessness Network

- Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI)

- MENA Rights Group

- Nationality For All (NFA)

- The Right to Be Campaign

- Rights Realization Centre

- Salam for Democracy and Human Rights

The Gulf Center for Human Rights also associated itself with this initiative and its objectives.

The coalition of organisations urged the world leader to call on the GoB to rescind its 27 April 2026 decision to revoke, arbitrarily, the nationality of at least 69 Bahraini citizens and to expressly undertake to end the policy and practice of arbitrary revocation of citizenship.

The coalition acknowledged reports that the GoB alleged that the 69 individuals sympathised with Iranian attacks on Bahrain in the context of the 28 February – April 2026 armed conflict between the United States and Israel and Iran. Unconfirmed reports received by the coalition, however, indicated that a total of 26 children ranging in age from 23 days old to 14 years old were amongst those stripped of nationality.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry reportedly alleged that those targeted are of “non-Bahraini origin.”

The human rights groups noted that the revocation decision relied upon a 2014 amendment of the 1963 Bahraini Nationality Law, entitled Law No. (21) of 2014. It states that:

“By decree, based on a proposal from the Minister of Interior and with the approval of the Cabinet, Bahraini citizenship may be revoked from anyone who possesses it in any of the following cases: […] (3) If he causes harm to the interests of the Kingdom or acts in a manner contrary to his duty of loyalty to it.”

They condemned a 2024 Royal Decree that rules out judicial oversight of citizenship revocation. It frames nationality as a sovereign issue, above judicial scrutiny, contrary to the principle in international human rights law that an independent judiciary provides oversight to government policy and practice, as well as Bahrain’s Constitution.

The coalition appealed to UN, EU and UK leaders in the absence of engagement by the GoB, to call on GoB to:

- Rescind its arbitrary stripping of citizenship of the 69 persons named to date and restore their nationality and related rights and benefits;

- Expressly rule out further arbitrary revocations of citizenship;

- Monitor the expulsion of any person deprived of Bahraini nationality with a view to ensuring their safety;

- Remind the Bahraini authorities of the need for any decision relating to nationality to be subject to an independent judicial process, with full guarantees of the rights of defense and appeal; and

- Urge Bahrain to make good on UN treaty bodies’ longstanding recommendations to align its legislation with international standards, including the conventions on the prevention of statelessness.

In November 2025, the United Nations Committee against Torture issued its Concluding Observations in relation to the GoB’s implementation of the treaty. In paragraph 40 (c) the Committee expressly recommended that Bahrain: “Refrain from using revocation of citizenship as a form of reprisal against human rights defenders, journalists, political opponents and other critics of the Government.”

Speaking for the coalition, Drewery Dyke, from Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, stated that “By acting against the express wishes of UN treaty bodies, the GoB has turned away from international rule of law and adherence to international human rights standards.”

Background

After weeks of inflammatory discourse directed overwhelmingly at Shi’a Bahrainis and the imposition of increasing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association, on 20 April 2026, the Office of Bahrain’s Prime Minister reported that the Cabinet [of Ministers] would implement ruler, Hamad bin ‘Isa al-Khalifa’s “comprehensive and decisive measures”, including “legal measures against those who have betrayed the nation or undermined its security and stability, alongside a review of cases relating to entitlement to Bahraini citizenship […]” The Cabinet resolved to review the legal “frameworks related to nationality, examining cases in line with national standards to safeguard national identity, reinforce the values of national loyalty, and ensure that necessary measures are taken in full accordance with the law.”

The conduct of the Bahraini authorities suggests that it has decided to conduct a widespread, arbitrary citizenship stripping campaign, as it did between 2012-2019, when the GoB stripped citizenship of Bahrainis on grounds related to the exercise of the right to freedom of expression or association, in the absence of fair trial guarantees or effective remedies. The GoB violated fundamental human rights, the prohibition of creating statelessness, as well as the right to a nationality.

Coalition members acknowledged government action that restored Bahraini nationality to at least 551 of the 985 people whose citizenship the GoB had arbitrarily revoked in previous years. The return to such measures has caused considerable unease in swathes of Bahraini society, undermining social cohesion.