Bahrain told to respect students' right to protest by UK government

Foreign Office issues call following Bahraini targetting of participants in peaceful protest outside BBC in Manchester

 

guardian.co.uk, Matthew Taylor, Sunday 17 April 2011

Students from Bahrain studying in the UK say they are paying the
 price of expressing support for protests in their homeland. Photograph:
John Moore/Getty Images Europe

The government has called on Bahrain to respect the right to peaceful protest. The move follows claims that families of students studying in Britain, who were photographed attending a peaceful protest in Manchester in solidarity with the country's pro-democracy movement, had been targeted.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of the actions of Bahraini citizens living in the UK campaigning against the regime and said they had a right to voice their concerns without intimidation or retaliation. "We have made clear to the Bahraini government that, unless these individuals commit a criminal offence in the UK, they will be free to carry out their activities in line with UK laws."

Students told the Guardian the Bahraini authorities had stripped government-funded scholarships from those who attended the event outside the BBC building last month and told parents to order their children home.

Students said they had "strong and well-founded" fears they and their families could suffer beatings and torture following Bahrain's crackdown on the protests 3,000 miles away and they were likely to be arrested on their return.

The Foreign Office said: "We continue to urge the government of Bahrain to respect the right to peaceful protest and respond to the legitimate concerns of the Bahraini people. It is also vital that those protesting respect law and order and refrain from intimidating and provocative acts."

The students said at least nine people studying in Manchester, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Reading and London had seen their £850-a-month subsistence grants removed and had been told their tuition payments would be stopped. Some said they were homeless as a result and were considering requesting asylum in the UK when their student visas expired.

One student, who said his scholarship had been revoked, said the ministry of education in Bahrain called his father to order him home a couple of days after the protest, in a pattern repeated for many of the protesters.

The students believe some images from the protest were taken by Bahraini or Saudi "spies" alerted to the event on the Facebook. The demonstration was disrupted by interventions from supporters of the Hahrain government and others the protesters identified as being from Saudi Arabia.

Some of the students' families have also received visits from the Bahraini authorities, according to Amin Elwassila, an Arab activist in Manchester who is supporting the group.