MP warns prolonged processing times creating ‘worsening social and humanitarian crisis’

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

In response to the government’s claim that most family-joining visa applications for the spouses of Bahrainis are completed within five days, MP Jalal Kadhem told Parliament yesterday that some citizens were waiting months to bring in wives and children from a number of Arab and Islamic countries.

Kadhem said the delays had become “a worsening social and humanitarian crisis” and called for urgent action to protect citizens’ rights and keep Bahraini families together.

He said the volume of complaints had turned MPs’ offices into “service and follow-up offices”, adding: “Our core role is oversight and legislation, not acting as a substitute for the government bodies concerned.” Kadhem said MPs were receiving daily calls and messages from citizens asking about the fate of their requests “in the absence of official replies or because of unjustified delays by some competent authorities”.

Kadhem said he had submitted formal requests to the Ministry of Interior after meeting Bahraini families married to citizens of an Arab country, but that the files were still pending more than a year and three months later.

He said the paperwork was complete and backed by documents issued by state bodies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the courts and accredited embassies.

Memoranda

The lawmaker said government memoranda had stated that processing should not take more than five days in normal cases, with any extra time linked to administrative checks, but argued that ‘the reality today shows a real and growing hardship for citizens’.

His remarks came after the government sent Parliament a written reply on an urgent proposal he submitted calling for faster visa and residency services for the spouses of Bahraini men and Bahraini women.