Introduction The Kingdom of Bahrain, situated in the by the 2011 Uprising. The Arab Spring hit Persian Gulf, gained independence in 1971. Bahrain following the popular uprisings in The small Gulf na.on spans roughly 800 km² Egypt and Tunisia, and the Bahraini people and has a popula.on of 1.641 million, almost took to the streets on 14 February 2011 - the half of which are foreigners. Bahrain has 10th anniversary of the Na.onal Ac.on historically been a divided society fueled by Charter that had promised much for the religious sectarianism. The Sunni Al-Khalifa country - to demand that their fundamental family rule over a Shi’ite-majority society. The rights and poli.cal freedoms be recognised. monarchy has adopted divide and rule These peaceful protests created fear within policies, relega.ng the Shi’ite majority to t h e r u l i n g fa m i l y, w h o re a c t e d b y “second- class status”, in order to “maintain systema.cally cracking down on protests. A poli.cal control by empowering the Sunni few protesters were killed, and thousands minority.” 1 Further, the country has were injured. Thousands of protesters were historically suffered from poor human rights also arrested, including opposi.on leaders, standards and condi.ons, resul.ng in overall ac.vists, lawyers, doctors and journalists. societal dissa.sfac.on and unrest with Opposi.on poli.cal par.es and independent regard to their rights. media were suspended, and thousands of Shi’ite workers were dismissed from their Consequently, Bahraini ci.zens have had a jobs. long history of opposi.on to the Al-Khalifa monarchy, star.ng with significant civil On 29 June 2011, King Hamad established unrest da.ng back to the 1920s when the Bahrain Independent Commission of Bahrain was a Bri.sh protectorate, and Inquiry (BICI) to inves.gate the ‘incidents’ in peaking in the mid and late 1990s, followed February and March. The Head of the 1 SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR), “Post-Independence Sectarianism and Modern Suzerainty” in Decade of Oppression: Authoritarianism in Bahrain, 2011-2020, 2021, available at <htps://salamdhr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Salam9FEB2021.pdf> [accessed 3 May 2021] 8 | Arbitrary Revoca.on of Na.onality in Bahrain - a Tool of Oppression