A little extra paranoia before the fall

What I Learned in the Airport in Bahrain
13 February, 2012 – Robert Naiman – Truthout

Bahrain International Airport – When I came to Bahrain, it certainly wasn’t with the intention of spending my whole time in the country in the airport. I wanted to see what was going on in the country, not to see what was going on in the airport.

But the Bahrain authorities would not let me enter the country. At this writing, it’s 5 PM local time. My flight got in at 2:15 AM. I have been informed that the director of Immigration has decided that I shall not have a visa to enter Bahrain – although in the past it was the practice of the Bahrain authorities to give visas to Americans in the airport pretty much automatically – so the authorities are saying that the only way I am leaving the airport is on a plane out of the country. At this writing, it looks like I could be in the airport for another 36 hours.

Other observers managed to get in, and you can see their reports at Witness Bahrain. (You can’t see that website if you live in Bahrain though – it’s blocked here by the Bahrain authorities.) But if you’re in the US, you can read reports on Witness Bahrain on the protests marking the first anniversary of the uprising for democracy, and the Bahrain government’s response to those protests. I won’t be able to contribute to those reports, since, sitting in the airport, I won’t be able to observe the protests and the government response.

However, I did learn something useful, sitting in the airport, waiting with a bunch of other foreigners for permission to enter the country.

I learned that the government of Bahrain is starting to pay a real price for its efforts to shield its actions toward peaceful protesters from international scrutiny.

In its efforts to keep people like me out – people who want to observe how the Bahrain government is responding to peaceful protests – the Bahrain government has adopted a policy of suspicion toward a much broader group of Westerners. And that’s going to hurt the Bahrain government’s image among a much broader group of people than just people like me. It will hurt the willingness of tourists and business people to come to Bahrain. …more