An elderly expatriate was found guilty of doctoring a birth certificate to make himself appear as stateless, or ‘bidoon’, in order to access a pension and social benefits for Bahrain-born individuals and will now live courtesy of the kingdom ... behind bars.
The 73-year-old Iranian, who immigrated to Bahrain in 1979, admitted that he stumbled upon a discarded birth certificate in 1983 and altered some of the information on it, then used it to apply for an ID.
The court heard that he lived with two identities: the CPR number he obtained upon arriving in Bahrain from Iran, and the new CPR number and card he acquired using the papers he found.
He lived as a non-citizen for 43 years, taking advantage of a former provision in social insurance law that granted people born in Bahrain, but with no nationality, the same privileges as Bahrainis.
His pension plus cost-of-living allowance totalled BD1,160 every month, the court heard.
The High Criminal Court convicted him of falsifying official documents to acquire a driver’s licence and a motorcycle licence, then using the forged documents by presenting them to government bodies.
On top of a 10-year sentence, the court ruled to deport the man to his home country after completing the jail term, and referred the case to the Civil Court for compensation proceedings.
“The defendant earlier admitted to charges, stating that he came from Iran with an Iranian passport to find work,” read the verdict. “He stated that he found a birth certificate among documents at his job, issued by the Bahrain Government Women’s Hospital in 1953, and he altered some of the information on it.
“He submitted the documents to the Labour Ministry, where he was issued a work card for Bahrainis.”
Having worked from 1984 until his retirement in 2015, the defendant had 31 years of service on his work records, according to a Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) attorney.
He was registered in the social insurance system, then known as GOSI, as a Bahrain resident in 1983 and was treated like a citizen as per the law, he added.
A total of BD46,845 of social insurance contributions have been paid to the SIO over the years, since the 19 per cent pension contribution rate applied to him (where employers paid 12 per cent of the worker’s pay to the SIO, with an additional 7pc was taken from the salary).
Being treated like a Bahraini entitled him to a pension and end of service benefits, of which he received BD13,986 upon retiring, the SIO attorney stated.
The court heard he obtained a ‘Notification of issuance of ID’ document in 1996, which was how stateless individuals were identified, after applying for it and submitting a form that contained falsified biographic data, including his name, date and place of birth, and names of his parents.
The supposedly-bidoon defendant kept renewing the document – most recently in 2023 – and also kept updating the job details and address listed on his CPR – last changed in 2025.
Through the work permit he got from the Labour Ministry, he first worked at a well-known construction firm until 2007, then worked at a steel factory. Over the course of his career, he was employed as a site supervisor, a driver and a machine operator.
He had also used the document to acquire driver’s licences. According to a General Directorate of Traffic worker, he had two driver’s licences using both identities.
After 43 years of living in Bahrain under this fake identity, authorities caught on to it when the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) received a tip from an anonymous informant about ‘an individual with double identities’.
An investigation was launched by the NPRA which uncovered the details of the fraud, and the defendant was arrested.
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