SHAFAQNA– A paper prepared by Bahrain’s Interfaith Center has explained the relation between the political and social crisis in the Persian Gulf Arab country and the sectarian policy that the Sunni Al Khalifa rulers are currently conducting.
According to the paper, several issues including economic inequality, income inequality, unemployment and lack of transparency in hiring processes specially for state positions have led to a sense of frustration and disappointment amongst the majority of the population who are Shias. It says the Sunni minority holds a disproportionate share of political power and benefits more than the Shia majority. The paper reads it is widely believed that the majority of Bahrain’s lower class citizens getting poorer are Shias with discrimination continuing against them.
The report notes that lack of transparency in hiring at government jobs led to complaints about discrimination based on sect or ethnicity. Human rights organizations report that managers do not hire qualified applicants because of their family names or their neighborhoods that are usually Shia residential areas. Several international firms have confirmed that they have been pressured not to employ Shia Bahrainis or promote them to positions of responsibility. The Shias also complained that employers subject them to different standards and they are more likely to be fired.
While the regime in Manama refuses to provide details about the number of Shia workers or civil servants, human rights organizations estimate that Shias fail to represent more than seven percent of the police and army personnel. There is similar condition at Education, Housing, Foreign Affairs and Finance Ministries.
The report that has used some data from a document published by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor from the 2014 US Human Rights report indicates that it is hard to convince international rights organizations that the government of Bahrain is taking appropriate steps to confront social, political and economic inequalities.
The report has concluded that these inequalities are a key driver of the civil unrest in Bahrain that has been continuous since March 2011, adding international human rights validate claims by Shia citizens and political opposition groups.
Source: Bahrainiinterfaith.org