By IRNA,
London : Bahrain authorities have been accused of putting intense pressure on the families of students in Britain who were photographed attending a peaceful protest in solidarity with the country’s pro-democracy movement.
Students, who attended a demonstration outside the BBC in Manchester, north west England, are said they have been stripped of government-funded scholarships, while their parents have been told to order their children home.
According to the Guardian, there are “strong and well-founded’ fears among Bahraini students that they and their families could suffer beatings and torture as a result of the crackdown on the protest 3,000 miles away and that they are likely to be arrested on their return.
At least nine people studying in Manchester, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Reading and London were reported to have had their £850 a month subsistence grants cut removed and have been told their tuition payments also would be axed that could render them homeless with some considering requesting asylum in the UK.
The Bahraini embassy in London declined to comment on the claims of government’s sanctions against students and forwarded inquiries about the withdrawal of scholarships to the cultural attache, who did not return calls.
A further solidarity protest was scheduled at the same location on Friday night but the Guardian said that all of the Bahraini students it spoke to were too afraid to go.