CChapter 3: Comparative analysis of nationality laws losing or being deprived of nationality such that they end up with none. • Denying citizenship to deny a voice. In 2013, faced with increasing opposition amid the waves of uprising in the region, the State of Bahrain passed a law allowing for those convicted of “terrorist” crimes to be stripped of their nationality. With no real definition of what terrorism means, this immediately raised concerns over how this would be translated and implemented. Unfortunately, what happened over the next few years justified those concerns - the strong abuse of citizenship in order to manipulate control was leading to waves of denationalization of those who opposed the ruling powers. The country’s main opposition group in the country, Al-Wefaq, stated that at least 187 people have lost their citizenship by September 2015 since the law was passed,167 and the numbers continue to rise. The majority of those denationalized were political opponents and many have been left stateless. Although Bahrain received the most media attention, the trend of stripping the citizenship of dissidents 167 - The Express Tribune, 12 Bahrainis Jailed, Stripped of Nationality, November 2015, access at http://tribune.com.pk/story/991954/12-bahrainisjailed-stripped-of-nationality-over-bombings/ 125