Friday, February 29, 2008

Gulf Quick Roundup

Bahrain is having some problems. They are majority Shia, but the government is Sunni. There were some protests in December demanding compensation for abuses committed in the 1980s and 1990s. A protester died, which sparked more protests, and over a dozen men were arrested. They claim they've been tortured, and this is sparking more protests. Articles from BBC and Gulf News (Note: I can't find the article now. The title was "Lawyer demands medical tests for 'tortured' Bahraini Shias").

Gulf Workers (read "cheap immigrant labor") are trying to get more rights. Some have been sent to jail for protesting. In the rich Gulf countries, most of the actual work is done by laborers from Southeast Asia. They aren't paid well and they're quite often treated like crap.

No comments: