Endangered Scholars Worldwide is gravely concerned about a Bahraini court's decision, issued on May 14, 2015, to deport Masaud Mirza Jaffar Jahromi, who had his citizenship revoked on January 31, along with 70 other people.
The decision to revoke his passport was based on an order from the Minister of Interior and allegations of “damage to the interests of the country and loyalty to the king.” On the 14, the court issued an order for Jahromi's deportation and a fine of 100 dinars.
Jahromi holds a PhD in telecommunication networking from the University of Kent at Canterbury in the UK, and he was the chairman of the Telecommunication Engineering Department at Ahlia University.
In April 2011, he was imprisoned for five months on charges related to the peaceful exercise of his right to free expression and assembly. He was released on bail on September 12, 2011, with a trial pending for November 2. He remained suspended from his position at the university.
In January 2015, Jahromi found himself on the list of Bahraini citizens whose passports were being revoked.
Since November 2012, Bahrain has revoked the citizenship of over 100 persons either through direct statements by the Ministry of Interior or through court orders.
Endangered Scholars Worldwide calls on the Government of Bahrain to do the following:
Halt the deportation of Masaud Mirza Jaffar Jahromi, as it is in violation of Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Reinstate Masaud Mirza Jaffar Jahromi's citizenship, and;
Accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.