Bahrain Mirror: The Al-Wasat local newspaper published in its issue on July 13, 2016 a report in which a number of shops owners in Diraz stated that shopping in Diraz is paralyzed, some said "the shops are in stagnation after the falling sales and after the customers couldn't reach the village, especially that most of the shops in the region depend on customers from nearby villages."

One shop owner, Abulrazek Abdulaziz, stressed that he used to gain at least 150 BD a day, stating that the sales now barely reach 30 BD sometimes and 5 BD at other times.

Abdulaziz highlighted that the shop monthly expenses reach 900 BD, explaining that after blocking the village's entrances, he became unable to cover these expenses.

He further stated that the shop is closed most of the times due to the absence of customers and because its customers were mainly from outside Diraz.

Abdulaziz also stressed that he faces problems in receiving the goods, as the vehicles that deliver the goods to him are not allowed to enter the village.

Another owner of a shop overlooking the main street, and who preferred not to mention his name, said that he faced a 90% decline in his sales and that he is now unable to cover the shop expenses which reach about 2400 BD.

The shop owners announced that they all witnessed a decline in their sales, especially after customers from nearby villages were incapable of reaching the village.

Furthermore, one of the female workers at a beauty salon in Diraz stressed that the number of customers has become very few.

An owner of another beauty salon highlighted that the customers decreased after the Diraz entrances were blocked, explaining that her salon depends on customers from outside the village and that she used to receive at least 30 customers a day, whereas she barely receives 3 now.

It is noteworthy that the decrease in sales and paralyzed shopping life came after the government announced the revocation of Sheikh Isa Qassim's citizenship on June 20 and after the authorities blocked 11 entrances of Diraz and kept 2 only open.

On the other hand, residents of Diraz complained about disruption of their lives as they are only leaving their homes when necessary and- in case they go out- they have to get ready to return home through a checkpoint at which officers check the IDs of residents and their addresses before allowing them to return home.

"I lost my driving license because I used it a lot to show my address and I was prevented from entering the village when I tried to. One of the officers on the checkpoint asked for my ID to see my address; however, the machine that reads the address gave them wrong information as it showed my old one. Thus, I had to return to my workplace and get them information proving that I live in Diraz. Luckily, I found my driving license and I returned after 2 hours to give the officer evidence that I live in Diraz," said one of the Diraz residents.

Arabic Version