Privileges for kids of Bahraini mothers

A lawmaker recently submitted a proposal to amend law and grant non-Bahraini children of Bahraini women more privileges.

MP Mohammed Al Maarifi called for amending Law 35 of 2009, demanding to grant children of Bahraini mothers and non-Bahraini fathers the Bahraini citizenship under certain circumstances.

The conditions include that the father has no citizenship or the mother is either divorced, widowed, abandoned or hasn’t been communicated by the husband in a period of five years. This should be proven by legal documents.

The second condition stipulates that the custody of the child should be legally granted to the divorced Bahraini mother. It also requires legal residency of the child in Bahrain for 10 consecutive years or five for the GCC nationals.

The amendment instructs that the applicant should have good conduct and that a written approval of the father should be provided (in case of minors). Al Maarifi said the proposal comes to strengthen Bahraini women’s situations and dilute the challenges they face, in line with the reforms project of His Majesty the King.