Large-scale dismissals of workers could be politically risky by speeding up the disintegration of Bahraini society into enclaves

Day after another, the signs of oppression in Bahrain are being uncovered whether with illegal oppressive acts from the local security forces or the foreign ones.
Bahraini opposition group Wefaq has revealed that Bahraini firms have fired hundreds of mostly Shia Muslim workers who went on strike to support pro-democracy protesters.

Officials at Batelco, Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Services and APM Terminals Bahrain said they had laid off more than 200 workers due to absence during a strike in March. "It's illegal in Bahrain and anywhere else in the world to just strike. You have to give two weeks' notice to your employer," one executive who did not wish to be named told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

Wefaq, which is Bahrain's main opposition group, said it estimated that more than 1,000 workers had been laid off.

More lay-offs are expected at Bahrain Petroleum (Bapco) which has fired the head of its workers' union. Workers fear that hundreds could be sacked at the company after parliament launched an investigation headed by a hardline deputy.

“Workers’ dismissal politically risky”

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva denounced the mass sackings and "other repressive measures" in Bahrain. The United Nations agency said it would organise a high-level mission to the Gulf state as soon as possible to talk to the government and to worker and employer organisations.

Some analysts said large-scale dismissals of workers could be politically risky by speeding up the disintegration of Bahraini society into enclaves.

Bloggers, activists and protesters have been arrested as as part of a crackdown on dissident, with more than 300 detained and dozens missing.

The government also suspended the only opposition newspaper, Al Wasat, on Sunday, accusing it of falsifying news about the unrest, and replaced the editor.

Security forces, with the aid of Saudi and other Gulf troops, have cracked down on protesters removing them from the Pearl Roundabout, a square in the capital, Manama, that they had occupied for weeks as the epicentre of the anti-government demonstrations.

Turkey, Iran want foreign forces out of Bahrain

Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers discussed yesterday in a telephone conversation the Bahrain revolution, saying people's demands should be met without the presence of foreign forces.

Ali Akbar Salehi and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu underlined the importance of bilateral consultation to help the Bahrainis achieve their legitimate demands, and urged regional states to help resolve the crisis in Bahrain.

Hours after the telephone conversation, Davutoglu travelled to Bahrain in an effort to help resolve the worsening political crisis in the country. The Turkish foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks with Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin Muhammad Al Khalifa along with a number of other Bahraini officials and representatives of some political parties.

Saudi forces destroy a mosque

In the meantime, anti-Saudi sentiments have risen in Bahrain after a new footage showed a mosque being destroyed by Saudi forces in an attack in the northern town of Kawarah. The footage showed burnt pages of the holy Qur'an buried under the debris.

Earlier, Bahraini opposition said they had evidence of Saudi forces involvement in the destruction of the mosque and their brutal operations against the anti-monarchy protesters.

Chairman of the Committee Against Torture in Bahrain Rodney Shakespeare told Press TV that a kind of aggression has been organized by America on behalf of Israel and in coordination with the Saudis. "It is a totalitarian aggression, it is completely fascist and it has committed today a heinous crime," Shakespeare said.

He went on to say that when you destroy a mosque, which is the home of Allah, you are dishonoring yourself and you are dishonoring Islam. He noted that both of these countries Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are in complete cohort with Israel.