Manama: The majority of individuals stripped of their nationality by Bahraini authorities are not in the country and live abroad, reports in Manama said.

Bahrain’s interior ministry on Saturday published a list of 72 names whose nationality has been revoked over ‘intelligence, security, terrorism and allegiance issues’.

The ministry said that the decision was based on Article 10 C of the Bahrain Citizenship Law that stipulates that the citizenship of Bahrain may be revoked “from whoever enjoys such nationality if he causes harm to the security of the State.”

“The decision to revoke the nationality was taken within the law that gives the Ministry of Interior the right to submit a notification to the cabinet in this regard,” said Eisa Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, the information minister.

He added that none of the people who were stripped of the nationality was part of a regular political entity.

“Most of them are not in Bahrain and some of them are involved with terrorist organisations that are banned in Bahrain,” Al Hammadi said in remarks to Al Arabiya.

According to reports, some of the individuals were active supporters of the terrorist organisation Daesh, including four who last year appeared in video clips promoting the activities of the group that controls swathes of Syria and Iraq.

Other people on the list live in Iraq, Lebanon and European cities.

Under Bahrain’s laws, anyone who is stripped of his nationality has the right to take his case to a court.

“The law preserves people’s rights and anyone with grievances may file a lawsuit and he will be given a fair and honest trial,” Al Hammadi said. “Those who have been stripped of their nationality should follow the legal procedures in order to regularise their situation. The law is in line with the constitution and it was approved by the parliament,” he said.

“The Ministry of Interior presented the reasons for requesting the revocation of their nationality and the cabinet approved them,” he said.

Al Hammadi added that Bahrain has recently taken a series of measures as part of its endeavours to combat terrorism in all its forms.

“There is an international effort to combat all forms of terrorism and Bahrain is part of this movement. There are some legal measures that Bahrain has taken and these include security measures and participation in the anti-terror international alliance,” he said in remarks to France 24.