During February 2011, in what became known as the Pearl Uprising, thousands of Bahrainis gathered at the Pearl Roundabout in the capital Manama to protest corrupt practices and the ruling Al Khalifa family’s failure to reform its autocratic rule.

Over the course of several weeks, dialogue with the political opposition broke down. Then, in March, the Government  of  Bahrain  accused demonstrators and members of the opposition of orchestrating an “Iranian plot” to destabilise the country. The police violently suppressed protests using  live  ammunition  while  the government requested military support from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),  which  deployed  troops  to Bahrain in a security operation. These actions preserved and strengthened Bahrain’s  ruling  autocracy  while suppressing the Pearl Uprising and its calls for reform.

Bahrain’s uprising Aside from prolific, institutionalised violence by the police, authorities in Bahrain have adopted another tactic to repress dissent: the arbitrary revocation of citizenship. This follows an ongoing trend across the Gulf since 2011, with violent and non-violent dissidents having their citizenships unilaterally revoked by the authorities.

In Kuwait, 120 people were stripped of their nationality between 2014– 2016. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), meanwhile, has revoked citizenship from 200 people due to alleged ties with the Muslim Brotherhood since 2011. Qatar has gone as far as to remove citizenship from an entire tribe. Over 5,000 Ghaftans have had their Qatari citizenship revoked since 2004. 1