Page 245 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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Members of the ruling family, students and the Naim tribe who are resident in Bahrain and on
the Saudi Arabian mainland were issued with 980 " gratis " passports.
During the year 20 persons applied for naturalisation, 19 of these applications were accepted,
all of them were Persians long established in Bahrain.
A number of Bahrain subjects, holding Bahrain passports, went to Saudi Arabia to obtain
work in the oil field, though tliroughout the year there was work available in Bahrain. These persons
on arriving in Saudi Arabia acquired Saudian nationality and were issued with Saudi Arabian travel
documents. His Highness the Ruler decided that documents acquired in this fashion by Bahrain
subjects would not be recognised by the Government of Bahrain and any Bahrain subject incorrectly
carrying a Saudi Arabian travel document should be made to surrender the document and would in
future be debarred from going to Saudi Arabia. The regulations regarding nationality and passports,
also those concerning the ownership of land by foreigners, in Saudi Arabia, appear to differ very
considerably from those in Bahrain.
The number of persons who were arrested and repatriated for attempting to enter Bahrain
without passports was 40. Most of these people came from Persia to Bahrain through Qatar. Unfor­
tunately the decrease in the number of arrests is not an indication that there are fewer illegal entries
into Bahrain. The trade of smuggling Persians into Bahrain is a lucrative practice; Bahrain is
regarded by the people on the Persian coast as a place where money can be picked up easily and
nakhudas who smuggle human cargo into Bahrain collect big fees. The people who usually evade
detection have friends and relations in Bahrain who are prepared to conceal them, later they produce
witnesses to state that they were born in and have lived in Bahrain. Only four cases were made
against nakhudas for infringing the passport regulations by smuggling persons into the country, it
is difficult to apprehend the nakhudas as in most cases their passengers take to the sea some distance
from the coast and swim ashore while the nakhuda sets sail.
The Passport Department continued to check arrivals and departures for the purpose of issuing
and cancelling ration cards. Persons newly arriving in Bahrain were given certificates enabling them
to be issued with ration cards by the Food Controller. During the year 1150 of these certificates were
issued to Qatar Arabs who came to Bahrain seeking work. Most of these people apparently decided
to settle for the time being in the country owing to work being available and the cost of living being
considerably lower than in their own country. There is reason to believe that in addition to the
registered entries into Bahrain a large number of Qatar subjects have come into the country during
the last year or two. The Government of Bahrain docs not now prohibit the entry of Qatar Arabs
into Bahrain though it is doubtful whether their presence is of any advantage to the State.
In 1364 over 3,500 launches and dhows arrived in Bahrain, all passengers and crews were
registered and full particulars were taken of the people on board in order to ensure that those whose
destination was not Bahrain departed in the boats in which they had come.

FOOD CONTROL DEPARTMENT.
During the year under review the Government again devoted a considerable amount of time,
energy and money to ensure that adequate supplies of essential foodstuffs were available to the public
at controlled prices. In twelve months a sum of Rs. 118 lakhs was spent on the purchase of wheat,
millet, tea, sugar and dates.
The monthly cereal ration for adults was maintained at 20 lbs. throughout the year though
the composition of the ration varied from time to time according to the stocks which were available
of different kinds of cereals. Infants receive half an adult ration and on this account the number of
registered infant ration holders is abnormally low. For the first two months of the year the ration
was 12 lbs. wheat and 8 lbs. mixed flour ; for five months it was 10 lbs. wheat, 5 lbs. barley and 5 lbs.
milled wheat; later it was 13 lbs. wheat, 3 lbs. flour made from barley and millet and 4 lbs. rice. In
Ramadhan an extra ration of rice was issued the proportion being 6 lbs. rice, 3 lbs. millet and 11 lbs.
wheat. In Shawaal it was 8 lbs. wheat, 8 lbs. mixed flour and 4 lbs. rice and in the last two months
of the year 12 lbs. wheat, 4 lbs. rice and 4 lbs. millet. In popularity among the public rice holds the
first place, followed by wheat with millet and barley a long way behind.