US citizen stuck at Bahrain airport hopes for the best

Manama : As Joseph Morris, aka Mohammed Yousif, spends his 16th night at the Bahrain International Airport (BIA), his apprehension about going home grows daily.

The US citizen, who has been stuck at the BIA since the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan, sleeps on the chairs of the airport’s arrival lounge, waiting for a solution for his dilemma.

He wants to travel to Kuwait, where he has been living for the past 14 years, to reunite with his only son. 

DT News reported on Monday that Morris was denied re-entry to Kuwait almost four years ago due to an overstaying violation, which he allegedly cleared out by paying around BD750.

However, the distressed man told that he was “blacklisted because of an electronic error in the Kuwaiti immigration and residency system”.

Following numerous attempts to solve the matter by pleading to the US and Kuwaiti authorities, the man said coming to Bahrain was his last choice, hoping it would be a final station in his journey to see his son again.

“All of my petitions and requests to the US State Department were disregarded,” said Morris, who alleged that he’s being “subjected to racial and religious discrimination by the US Government”.

DT News contacted the US Embassy in Manama on more than one occasion and was informed that “the US Consulate is Aware of the Issue.” A representative refused to comment on the matter “considering the privacy of the citizen.”

Meanwhile, Morris told DT News that he was informed by the same person that “the matter would be passed on to the Consulate”, who would get in touch with him today.

In another development, Morris informed that thanks to the support of some Saudi-based friends, who wired a small amount of money to him, he was able to buy his iftar (breaking the fast) meal from a restaurant at the airport.

“My thoughts are with my son and the moment I would reunite with him,” he told, explaining that “food and shelter aren’t a priority anymore”.

While speaking to DT News yesterday, a Bahraini parliamentarian said he would adopt Morris’s case and get in touch with the Kuwaiti authorities to clear-out the matter.

Morris informed earlier that he did not want to travel back to the US, where he is being pressurised by his family members to revert to Christianity.