Bangladeshis say being forced to take part in Bahrain pro government rally
March 18th, 2011 - 5:40 pm ICT by ANIManama, Mar.18 (ANI): Bangladeshi expatriates in Bahrain say they have been forced to take part in pro-government rallies, which has provoked attacks from a majority of the Shia population of the country in return, leading to the death of two Bangladeshis in the clashes.
Fazlul Karim, president of the Society for Bangladeshi Workers in Bahrain said that some of the expatriates in the capital had recently been forced to take part in pro-government rallies and had afterwards been attacked by Shia protesters.
Officials believe that the position of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Bahrain is dangerous as they are Sunni Muslims caught up in what is partly a sectarian conflict, BBC reports.
A Bangladeshi community leader said that shops owned by the Bangladeshis had also been ransacked, making it unsafe for them to leave their houses to return to work.
There are 100000 Bangladeshi’s working in Bahrain, 300000 Indian expatriate workers, 60000 Pakistanis and about 30000 Nepalis.
The authorities in Bahrain have not commented on the claims.
However, they have said that they will do their best to protect innocent expatriates caught in the violence, but Bangladeshi community leaders say that they not seen any security forces in many parts of Manama, which is believed to be a ‘dangerous area.’ (ANI)
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Tags: authorities, bangladeshi community, bangladeshi workers, bbc, clashes, community leader, community leaders, dangerous area, expatriate workers, expatriates, government rallies, karim, pakistanis, population, protesters, rally, sectarian conflict, security forces, sunni muslims, violence