§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What information they have been given by the Government of Bahrain about the reasons for recruitment of foreigners into their police and armed forces, and the naturalisation of those foreigners and their families; whether they have checked to see whether any of the arms licensed for export from the United Kingdom to Bahrain are to be used by units in which these foreigners serve or may serve; and whether they expect to train any of those units. [HL2259]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanAs in other GCC states, a large percentage of Bahrain's workforce is expatriate. We understand that the Bahraini Government employs a number of foreign nationals in its police and armed forces. Queries about their recruitment and nationality status are a matter for the Bahraini authorities.
All export licence applications are carefully considered against a wide range of criteria. Equipment has been licensed for export to all units of the Bahraini security forces, including the Bahrain Defence Force and the Bahrain National Guard, whose forces have received some training from the Ministry of Defence. We have not provided any police training in Bahrain.