"ملف 12/2 معاملة البحرينيين في بلاد فارس" [و‎‎١‎٣‎٩] (٤٤٠/٢٧٧)

COPY OF NOTE
We may divide persons of Bahrain origin in Persia
into three categories:-
(1) Those who own landed property,
(2) Bahrainis born in Persia, and
(3) those who were born in Bahrain,
As regards the first we can do nothing for them and the
-re is no objection to telling them sc on every possible
occasion, nor can there be any difficulty in explainir^ this
to the Shaikh. As regards the second, since Bahrain has
now published a proclamation that persons born in Bahrain
of foreign parents would, unless registered in the Agency,
be considered as subjects of the Bahrain State, we could,
I think, persuade the Shaikh that it is unreasonable to
expect us to do anything for Bahrainis born in Persia,
since I do not think that these people have any real
claim on us. They intend to remain in Persia, they are
usually married in Persia and since they are born there,
Persians have every risfht to consider them as sons of the
soil. It is true that foreigners in Bahrain can register
and avoid Bahrain nationality, but the fact remains that
Persians do not. We are now left with the third category oi
persons born in Bahrain who genuinely belong to it and for
these we must make anattempt to do something.
2. The question or retaliation was taken bp by Sir Hugh
Biscoe in his despatch No.23b-S., dated the 5th May 1931
wherein he suggested that we should withdraw the
Capitulations from the Persians in Bahrain and subject
them to the local courts. I told Sir Hugh «t the time that
I thought his idea was mistaken and that it would hit us
more than the Persian Government in as muah as it would
reduce the power of the Political Agent over an important
section of the community, and that it was impracticable in
that most of the Persians in Bahrain spoke only Persian