Bahrain Mirror: The mother of Bahraini infant Ahmad Mohammad Hassan, told local newspaper al-Wasat that "the Nationality, Passport and Residence Affairs (NPRA) refused to grant her 4-month-old child a passport." They also informed them that he is forbidden to travel, without any explanations for this procedure. Moreover, Ahmad's mother noted that they have applied for the passport for around 1 month, and nothing has been issued since.

The mother noted that when they went to pick up her son's passport on February 27, after all the papers were handed in and money were provided by her husband. When the employee was asked about the application, he said that the child was banned from traveling, and that his person number is not read by the electronic system.

In addition, she noted, "We followed up with the nationality affairs more than once, and they told us that the issue needs a long time to go through it, and high authorities would need to sign papers so that the application would be finalized, or else they can't finalize it for us."

"Today, a month passed since we completed the passport procedures. The issue is disrupted due to reasons we don't know. There may be a similarity in names, but still, the issue took a month unresolved, and we need the passport for our child to create a smart ID for him," the mother added.

"Getting my child Ahmad identity document is one of his simplest rights, and his birth certificate provides his age, and it is impossible he'd have a problem since he is only 4 months old. Therefore, we call upon all officials at the NPRA to accept and grant my child the passport so we can issue a smart card for our child as soon as possible," the child's mother concluded.

Local newspaper Al-Wasat had reported a few days ago a similar story pertaining to the suspension of passport issuance for child Hussein Ali Abdullah Asfour, since February 22, although his twin brother Abdullah received his passport. The reason was due to similarity in his name, with that of someone who has a travel ban imposed against him. After the story was published, the 5-month-old child Hussein Ali Abdullah Asfour received his passport.

Arabic Version