'ملف رقم 19/163 I (C 33) العلاقات بين ابن سعود وشيخ البحرين' أنشطة المبعوث النجدي في البحرين' [و‎‎١‎٠‎٢] (٤١٢/٢٠٩)

Page 3.
suicide. They said that those whom they had left behind were
"besieged in their villages by the tax col ectors who were
demanding a far greater sum than they could possibly pay, and
that they were subjected to every form of injustice. I
again askrd how the British Government could help them against
their ruler, and they merely repeated that we should go there
and protect them, as we had protected people elsewhere. I
told them th t I had no private army with which I could in
vade the territory of a friendly power, and finally as they
would not leave, I told them that I would represent their
case to you, and that if you could help them you would. They
then left.
6. I have never seen sa seen a body of men so dispi
rited and dejected, and there is no doubt that they have reachr
ed the limit of human endurance. They fully understand that
^cannot ^
whatever their n; tionality has been in the past, theyTclaim
protection as Bahrna now, end they are simply awaiting some
miracle to occur and save them. I do not icnow whether it
is possible for any action to be taken on their behalf, and
it is quite probable that any reference to Bin Saud might
have the effect of making their lot even harder, fot it is
*? ** هذه التواريخ تقريبية *& clear that the ordert for the collection of this war-
tax has emanated from him and no one else. I would be
glad to know whether it is possible to hold out any hope to
these unfortunate people.
7. I cannot agree with the concluding paragraph of
my predecessor's letter T 2 mentioned above, and it appears
thri.t oir 1 one 1 Haworth afterwards withdrew his approval df
the piop^sition outlined therein. The crux of the matter '
seems to me to be the test for Bahrain nationality. If a, per
son can show a reasonable claim to recent Bahrain nationality,
by birth, residence or other cogent reason, it srkjxix would
appear impossible to deny them our protection. The inhabi-
tants of these islands are becoming increasingly critical of