Bahrain: Fired Shias Want Their Jobs Back

February 13, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

It's been one year since anti-government protests started in Bahrain. Nearly 2,000 mainly Shia Muslim workers in both the private and public sector lost their jobs as punishment for their perceived participation in the protests. Unions say they have not got their jobs back, despite repeated promises from the government. Human rights groups and activists say more than 60 people have been killed, including four policemen, since the crackdown began on Shia-led protesters. Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reports.

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Bahrain Uprising

The Bahraini uprising is a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of civil resistance, in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. As part of the revolutionary wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazi... Explore this topic

Bahrain

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island country situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at 55 km long by 18 km wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahra... Explore this topic

Shia Islam

The Shia represent the largest schismatic sect in Islam, accounting for 10-20% of the world's normative body of Muslims. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatul ʻAlī, meaning "followers", "faction", or "par... Explore this topic

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... Explore this topic

Unemployment

Unemployment occurs when people are without work and actively seeking work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor forc... Explore this topic

Sectarianism

Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political mo... Explore this topic

Civilian casualties

Civilian casualties is a military term describing civilian or non-combatant persons killed, injured, or imprisoned by military action. The description of civilian casualties includes any form of military action regardless of whether civilians were targeted directly. This diffe... Explore this topic

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector or the government sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, ownership, sale, provision, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether nat... Explore this topic

Human rights in Bahrain

Bahrain's record on human rights has been described by Human Rights Watch as "dismal", and having "deteriorated sharply in the latter half of 2010". The government of Bahrain has been accused of marginalizing the majority Shia Muslim population, torturing and mistreating polit... Explore this topic

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa is the King of Bahrain, having previously been its Emir. He is the son of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the previous Emir. The country has been run by the al-Khalifa dynasty since 1783. Explore this topic

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Bahrain Uprising

Bahrain

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