Page 332 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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Illegal Entry.—The Passport Department instituted eases against 112 foreigners of various
nationalities on charges of entering Bahrain without passports. Most of these people came from
Dubai or Qatar in order to seek work. In many eases they had friends or relations in Bahrain who
helped them to obtain employment. Cases were also made against Nakhudas who smuggled people
without passports into Bahrain, against persons who gave false evidence in identity eases, against a
Jew who proceeded to Israel and subsequently returned to Bahrain and against one individual who
attempted to use a passport which did not belong to him.

On nth August 1951 two Bahrain launches containing 85 Somalis arrived from Saudi
Arabia. The Nakhudas alleged that they had been compelled by the authorities to take the Somalis
on board and to convey them to Manamah. The Somalis complained that they had been deported
and hardly treated. They were allowed to land. Thirty-three of them, who were in possession of
money, left by steamer cn route for Somaliland, via India, the others were housed in the Quarantine
Island. On 27th August iQf,i three more launches arrived containing Co Somalis, Permission
to disembark was refused but a party of them were allowed to visit the bazaar daily in order to buy
food, accompanied by a Policeman. After a few days the Somalis became restive and made an attempt
to force their way through the Customs premises into the town. Customs and Passport officials tried
to restrain them, but they wci c unable to do so. The Police were called out and, with some difficulty,
they compelled them to return to their launches which were alongside the pier. When order had
been restored 36 of the Somalis were sent back to Somaliland on an aircraft which was chartered by
the Government. The remaining Somalis, who were quartered on the Quarantine Island, were sub­
sequently dispatched to Hargeisa by air.

Bahrainis Marrying Foreign Women.—Many Bahrain subjects who went to the Trucial
Coast during the year returned with wives. The amount of dowry, even among the lower classes,
has risenso much in recent years that Bahrainis are acquiring wives from Oman and the Coast where
conditions arc hard and dowries arc low.

Gratis Passes.—Gratis passes were issued to 112 teachers, students and Shaikhs’ followers,
but in the middle of the year His Highness passed orders that the Na’im and Kuwari tribes, who since
the Zubara affair have been issued with free passes, should be treated on the same footing as other
Arabs.

Women Visiting Saudi Arabia.—At the beginning of the year many Bahrain women applied
for and obtained passes in order to visit relations in Saudi Arabia, where many thousands of Bahrain
Arabs are working. It was found however that the object of these visits was in order to smuggle
goods into Saudi Arabia and for various other reasons. Complaints were made to His Highness
and, as a result, orders were issued that no woman would in future be allowed to go to Saudi Arabia
unless accompanied by a male relation.

Bahrainis in the Lebanon.—Partly owing to the severity of the summer unusually large
numbers of Bahrainis visited the Lebanon during the summer. A Lebanese Tourist Agency, " Dar al
Kashaf ” attracted some customers from Bahrain by advertising a two months’stay, with free medical
attention, adequate accommodation and air travel for £40. The Bahrainis who visited the Lebanon
on these terms gave a very unfavourable report on their return.

Distinguished Visitors.—His Highness Shaikh Abdulla bin Salim As Subah, Ruler of Kuwait,
visited Bahrain on 13th December 1950 and on 17th August 1951. His Excellency Mohammed
Sadiq Al Mujadidi, The Afghan Minister at Cairo and Jedda, arrived on 10th January 1951. His
Excellency Shaikh Ali bin Jasim al Thani, Ruler of Qatar, arrived on 7th February 1951. His Excel­
lent General Noori Pasha Es Said, Prime Minister of Iraq and His Excellency Dr. Dhi’a Jaafar,
Minister of Communication, Iraq, arrived on 27th February 1951. His Excellency Monsieur Georges
Gueyraud, French Minister at Jedda, and Madame Gucyraud, arrived on 2nd June 1951. Haji
Hnmde Bilqaccm, Secretary to the French Legation at Jedda, arrived on 2nd June 1951.