Spare us Bahrain’s sudden ‘concern’ for its Asian expat working-class Bahrainis against each other to justify its brutality

Spare us Bahrain’s sudden ‘concern’ for its Asian expat working-class Bahrainis against each other to justify its brutality
by Fahad Desmukh – guardian.co.uk, Saturday 18 June 2011 08.00 BST

The regime is trying to pit abused foreign workers and working-class Bahrainis against each other to justify its brutality

Since the Bahraini regime launched its crackdown on protesters in March, the government and its apologists have tried to justify state brutality by pointing to violence inflicted upon expatriate labourers – supposedly at the hands of protesters.

“Poor, innocent, Asian expats” is how they are now described. But just a few months ago there was little concern at a national level about the abuse of migrant workers. They represent 54% of Bahrain’s resident population, and as in the neighbouring Gulf monarchies, they constitute the bulk of the workforce. Most are from south Asia, and they are arguably the most marginalised community in the country.

Now their welfare has suddenly become a matter of concern for the regime and its apologists. After the start of the crackdown, the foreign minister scurried between the different expatriate community clubs and embassies, hailing the “strong relations bonding” them to the kingdom of Bahrain. Local state-run television suddenly started broadcasting news bulletins in Hindi, Urdu and Tagalog.

It all seems rather disingenuous. As a long-time “expat” myself, my initial reaction is to ask why there has never been this level of outrage from those same quarters when Asian workers have been brutally abused by their Bahraini employers or have been killed in the workplace due to criminal negligence. And why is it that when I tried to air my political views about Bahrain several years ago, I was put on a blacklist and banned from entering the country again? …more