Many Bahraini men are being ‘unfairly delayed’ from settling down in the kingdom with the Arab women they have married abroad, Parliament heard.
MPs claimed that ‘family stability’ had emerged as a growing concern in Parliament, amid mounting complaints from frustrated husbands caught up in a seemingly never-ending bureaucratic nightmare.
MP Dr Hisham Al Asheeri highlighted procedural challenges despite families completing all legal requirements and securing prior approvals.
He noted that while the Interior Ministry states that family reunification cases are typically completed within five days, many applications take far longer and require repeated submissions.
“We need clearer timelines and more flexible mechanisms in line with official policies supporting family stability,” he added.
The issue was strongly echoed by MP Jalal Al Mahfoodh, who described the situation as a worsening social and humanitarian crisis threatening family cohesion and community stability ... with at least three marriages having collapsed because of the stress caused by couples being unable to reunite.
He said delays in processing applications to bring wives and children from some Arab and Islamic countries have turned into a ‘humanitarian crisis’, requiring urgent intervention and radical solutions.
Mr Al Mahfoodh said MPs’ offices have effectively turned into daily service centres due to the volume of complaints, stressing that lawmakers’ primary role is legislative and oversight – not substituting government bodies.
He added that MPs receive daily calls and messages from citizens asking about the fate of their applications, amid unexplained silence or unjustified delays from some authorities, placing MPs in a difficult position before citizens appealing for clear and swift solutions.
He revealed that official requests submitted to the Interior Ministry more than a year and three months ago remain unresolved, despite all documents being complete and issued by recognised bodies such as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, courts and accredited embassies.
The MP said official correspondence had previously confirmed that procedures should not exceed five days in normal cases, yet the reality reflects growing and painful suffering for families.
He also raised humanitarian cases involving Bahraini citizens helped to leave conflict zones, praising the Interior and Foreign Ministries for evacuation efforts from Syria via Jordan, for example, but expressing concern that some were evacuated without their wives and children.
“Separating families has caused severe social and psychological harm, noting that among 67 documented cases, three families have already broken apart due to prolonged delays,” he added.
He rejected what he described as discriminatory treatment affecting applications linked to countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Syria, warning that individual decisions risk undermining Bahrain’s global image of tolerance and coexistence.
“Bahrainis have the right to marry abroad and reuniting with their families is a fundamental right that must not be violated,” he added.
He called for urgent corrective action, greater transparency and co-ordination between Parliament and government agencies to restore public confidence and safeguard family stability.
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