Thousands of Bahrainis Lose Jobs for Protesting
The ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests continues to highlight US support for tyranny
About 2,500 state workers in Bahrain have been fired from their jobs for taking part in recent protests against the ruling of Al-Khalifa dynasty. The firings have reportedly affected a total of over 13,000 people in the Persian Gulf sheikhdom.
Rights groups have criticized the Bahraini regime and state-linked firms for unlawfully terminating employees. Meanwhile, 40 people detained in connection with anti-regime protests have been formally charged with illegal assembly and trying to distort Bahrain’s image.
These developments mark continuing abuse by the US-supported Bahraini dictatorship. After initially responding with brutal violence and martial law to counter the largely peaceful uprisings, Bahrain then arrested and charged medical professionals for having treated injured protesters as patients.
The US still supports the Bahrain government, allocating another $26 million in aid for 2012, plus supplying them with military equipment, even while Obama administration officials have struggled to justify it. Bahrain is the host of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which directs operations from in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea and secures the Straits of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world’s seaborne oil passes.
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Yenus
August 24th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
While it is sad to see people lose their jobs, putting the financial status of families in danger, the main reason is they violated the civil workers rules and regulations, that is they didnt show up for work, on their own with out premission, busing themselves in month long demonstration .This runs against the employee and employer contract agreement.So the government has the right to act .Can you consider your employee if he/ she show up after a month absence , without your permission?
I am surprised by your report not to include those who have resumed their job. Try to make the report balanced.The layoff worker's case has been revised by the ministry of labour at individual level and compared with the regulations of civil rules prevalent in the country.And decisions taken based on the results thereoff.
What I expect is for the government and private sector to absorb these workers in the coming months, as the government is doing its level best to reduce the unemployment rate at any cost.
Trying to politicise the laying off of the workers is a wrong view, it has got nothing to do with the anti government so called peaceful demonstration, it is a violation of work rules.
thedissenter
August 25th, 2011 at 7:23 am
Sounds just like the US. Let's wait for the condemnations from Hillary "the Mouth" Clinton and Barack "the Silver Tongue" Obama.
thedissenter
August 25th, 2011 at 7:25 am
Wow! They committed the high crime of "not showing up for work" – how could their corporate masters ever expect to reap obscene profits if their wage slaves don't show up to work because they're out there protesting and thinking that they have human rights and shit. I say down with their heads! And let that be a lesson to anyone who has any ideas about crossing the threshold of the corporate state.