Current political condition in Baharin

I have replied to your private message

There are some localised protests happening here in Bahrain but they are nothing to worry and not a danger to expats. If I were you, I would ignore what you hear on the media and come and live in Bahrain.

Yeah ... just come over and see for yourself.

Things are not as bad as they seem to appear in the media.

Best wishes for your new job.

While I don't feel any danger and agree with the comments above, it does seem like there has been an increase in activity very recently. None of it scares me, but the helicopters flying overhead all day and night and the checkpoints are getting a bit annoying. The traffic problems caused by the checkpoints and even road closures is really a pain too.

Maybe because I have only been in Bahrain for a few months myself, but it also seems like the tension is increasing and I wonder what might come. Four police officers have been killed in explosions recently. Another explosive device was found and defused yesterday. A friend had large rocks thrown at her car (and minor damage from it) while she sat at a traffic light on Budaiya Highway after picking her children up from school.

Again - I'm not saying it is bad here or that one should avoid Bahrain, but it does feel like there is potential that things could get a bit unstable rather easily.
Hope I am wrong!

You're right Stakan. Things have got a bit iffy nowadays but it will all calm down as the time goes.

I'd have to agree with Stakan. Very well said.

I, myself, don't think that the political condition in Bahrain is very stable though. I know the people that are established and living here do try to portray an image to the outside world and on forums that everything is all and well and that its just media rumuors, BUT, i beg to differ. 3 police officers dead in a bomb blast recently and not just that, in many areas there seems to be constant disturbances on a routine basis now like burning tyres suddenly anywhere, throwing rocks at civilian cars who literally have nothing to do with anything political, road blocks by groups of protestants on major roads at any time. All this seems fairly dangerous to me and thus i would'nt say that things all and well.

Apart from this, going to the roots of this thing also suggests that things are not gonna get any better in the future as the majority civilians are demanding to overthrow the government and establish a democracy which doesnt sound like its gonna be all fun and games in this country in the future.

May God protect us all and this country aswell.

Stakan and Zain have expressed my thoughts exactly and that is what I said to you in my message before I saw your post.

I don't believe that people should give you wrong information (as above) that all is well and move here. We are on this forum to give you a truthful and honest opinion of live here.

This time last year was a lot quieter than this year. I was very close to where the bomb exploded the other night that killed 3 police. The roads were all blocked, I told them I needed to be on Budaiya Highway so they waved me through, right to the heart of it all. Luckily I got out ok (obviously) but it was a scary time.

A friend of mine couldn't get near his apartment block in Seef and had to wait while a bomb was diffused and other friends are packing their bags and leaving

Like I said in my mail to you, personally I hope it all calms down and I will remain here, but vigilantly groups are going to make matters worse before things get better.

The decision is yours to make and you have a proper view of Bahrain now that isn't all roses.

I told you to look on certain websites for information and you can see where the troubles lie, then you have to realise the problems are usually only in a small part of that area.

I agree and disagree on the above comments. In almost every country, there are localised protests happening. Yes, 3 police officers were killed the other day and that is very, very sad. Throughout last year, number of people were killed, but that doesn't make this country insecure. It is unfortunate that Josnuggles were near when the event has occurred but I wouldn't make the entire country unsafe as a result of a limited number of incidents. If you are aware of your surroundings and make informed decisions as to where you are moving, you will absolutely be fine.

It is unfortunate to hear some people leaving. Luckily, all my expat friends are still here. I guess when we express our thoughts in matters, we need to make sure the readers understand the country is nowhere near like it was in 2011.

I always read up on where the troubles are -  they tend to log their protests etc and yes you do stay away from those areas but lately I haven't been able to get home on numerous occasions due to road blocks, police check points, bomb scares, fires etc. The last few protests have not been advertised and it took a while before the group responsible came out and admitted it. If you stay in all the really nice area's that's fine. But you can't live like that when you have kids that need football practice in one area, music lessons in another and you work in an area that is totally safe but a nightmare to get to due to the area's around it.

Here are my views on the current escalation of violence.

This is an annual occurrence. When F1 approaches, protesters step up their campaign of terror. Perhaps their way of showing things are bad in Bahrain. Wonder how many will recollect the molotov cocktail throwing incident last year when an F1 crew was nearby.

I drove all around Bahrain over the past few days. I passed through a checkpoint and saw a tyre burning ceremony on Budaiya Highway and was stuck in traffic yesterday while the authorities check out a suspicious device on the highway. Total "down time" of about 2 hours on the road. However, I have been out on the roads for almost 5 times that and all of the other time was peaceful and completely normal. And I did drive around even in areas some would deem "high-risk".

This tells me that things are not as bad as what some people think or say.

As with any big city in the world, one has to take precautions and alert. And as with any big city in the world, things can go wrong, and one may find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Such is life! I lived through the terror of the Tigers (terrorist group) in my country and I can tell everyone life in Bahrain is much more peaceful compared with what we went through in Colombo at that time.

I will still say Bahrain is much better than what is portrayed by some of the commentators above.

Very concerned with hearing that Josnuggles was near that terrible incident, thank god your safe and everything turned out to be okay.

I would respectfully have to disagree with Brightonguy and the reason is what Josnuggles just mentioned in her last msg.

My point is however posh and safe area you live in, you WILL have to leave that area and go to many places around the city many a times. For example i live in Juffair myself and settled there with the thought that id be safe BUT i have to go to different clients and visit Industries as part of my job many times a week so technically you have to move around irrespective of where ever you live. And im just a single guy living alone, i can imagine what Josnuggles or any other family with 2,3 kids might be going through as they have to go east and west all the time from schools to tuitions to hospitals and many many other important tasks associated with children which make them travel to different areas.

Organized riots or atleast something of an announcement before blocking roads would be reasonable but the uncertainty of when something can happen absolutely anywhere, as depicted by past trends in recent unfortunate events makes all the things much more worse and living conditions much more risky as the majority civilians just seem to be getting more and more restless by the day.

As Josnuggles said, people should keep all the facts and figures and sources of information infront of them before making any decision to move to Bahrain now as its not like it used to be. Things here may still not be as bad as in some other countries but they are definately changing so be fully informed and do your research before moving here.

Regards!

I am glad you are okay, Josnuggles.

Since I have already commited I have no intention of not coming to Bahrain this August.  I am still very excited about the change and am looking forward to it with a smile.  It is good to hear exeriences from many people, and the honesty that is attached.

Being able to walk to work and living where I will helps me a great deal, and no kids or family to speak of so I will not be driving all over.

As someone who is not feet-on-the-ground there yet, are there any websites or news sources I should bookmark and become familiar with?

Thank you all again for your comments!

(edited for complete double-negative screw up)

Your embassy's website is usually a good source of information. Bahrain Travel Advice by the British Government is also a good website to visit as it is regularly updated with related "warnings".

Thank you Brighton - This thread doesn't have me running for the hills, and I will be there in August to complain about the heat.  After all this snow I am looking forward to that, actually.

I have my embassy page bookmarked, but was just seeing if there were other reliable sources that you all know about.  I will add the British Travel Advice Page as well.

Thanks!

Hiya

As I told you in our private messages, if you have facebook then join the SSFC Bahrain page, that is our Special Security Forces page. They give you information of all planned demonstrations, where demonstrations are taking place without warning, car accidents and blocked roads etc. As I also said, you will only see a few area's mentioned regularly and then it is only certain parts of that area that is affected. Feb - April are certainly the worst months but this does seem worse than last year but I'm hopeful it will blow over - BUT NONE OF US ACTUALLY KNOW!!!

Bahrain is a tiny country, so unlike others this does effect us a lot more especially when we live near to the area's.

I think you are still making the right choice in coming here, and if you are walking to work then I hope you live next door as the heat can get over 50 degrees in the summer.

Thank you all for your best wishes regarding the bomb attack, I'm still shook up to be honest but I have driven along the same route two days running now and didn't cry so I think I'm getting over it 

I just think that from now on this forum needs to speak the full truth to potential expats and not make the country to be anything that it isn't (which to me is still amazing)

Josnuggles wrote:

I just think that from now on this forum needs to speak the full truth to potential expats and not make the country to be anything that it isn't (which to me is still amazing)

Agreed (even to the part in brackets). And that's what we try to do all the time. Give the full truth in good faith. When there are differing views, it's up to the readers to decide.

Well by saying "this forum needs to speak the full truth", you make it sound like the forum was lying before, which I, at least personally, totally disagree, and haven't seen false information being given on this website to the point where it can lead to unwanted circumstances. Many forum users have given a correct information on this forum. Otherwise it wouldn't have been popular. So I don't know what is or was the problem here. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

More importantly (and this is probably the point where new expats should not ignore), one's bad experience with someone, some company or some country DOES NOT mean it's bad. There are over a million people here so I think when we choose our words, we need to make sure these are our personal opinions and not a fact.

I have only been here two months and I think all the regular contributors without exception do a great job and obviously there will be different opinions due to different experiences - very sorry that you got caught up in things Josnuggles but glad you are recovering with a smile!

To give the other side I live in Umm Al Hassam and travel to Sannabis (7km) every day to the office and apart from spending 1 hour getting home when it only usually takes me 20 mins I did not even know that the policemen had been killed until the following afternoon, which of course is terrible, but I have lived in places where that would have hardly made the news and when you think how many thousands of people are killed by guns in America every year things should be put into perspective. I have travelled across to Sitra over the last couple of days as well and saw nothing - maybe I have just been lucky.

I am not saying by any means that it is totally safe - nowhere in the world is and people are talking about the unrest slightly more than normal, but it is not dominating every conversation. I do not have the experience here that the others do but just thought I would let you have just another honest report. I am also a single bloke over here so don't have the worry of having children here. I am really enjoying it as well, but the comments above are just fact