In Bahrain, all state property pursuant to Decree 19 of 2002, issued by the king at the beginning of his rule, is at the royal court's disposal. Since said decree, the royal court has been looting, gifting and selling without any accountability or oversight.

On January 19, 2010, during a joint press conference that included the Services Committee of the House of Representatives, the Commission of Inquiry into Land Reclamation and the Bahrain Fishermen's Association, late Waheed Al-Dosari described the land reclamation operations as a "criminal act".