The nationality campaign poster reads: |
BEIRUT, 29 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - About 10 years ago, Nadira and
Amer Nahhas left the United Stated to settle in Lebanon, not realising that
their children would live as foreigners in Nadira’s homeland.
“I am
Lebanese, but my husband is a foreigner, this is why my children are
foreigners,” said Nadira.
According to Article 1 of the Lebanese
Domestic Law, only “the child born of a Lebanese father” is deemed
Lebanese.
While Lebanon acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1997, it placed a reservation on
the article that stipulates that "states parties shall grant women equal rights
with respect to the nationality of their children".
The reservation
exempts the government from having to implement the article.
Since 2004,
an administrative measure taken by the General Security body in the interior
ministry, permits children born of Lebanese mothers and foreign fathers to
obtain renewable residence permits every three years free of charge.
Before this, such parents had to pay US $200 for a renewable, one-year
residency permit for their children.
"In case they [children of foreign
fathers] want to work, they have to apply for another kind of residence permit
and a work permit, both costly depending on the job classification," said Rola
Masri, project manager of the Gender Citizenship and Nationality Programme at
the Collective for Research and Training on Development (CRTD).
"But the
General Security decree says that Lebanese have the priority for jobs,” she
added. “So, besides the financial obstacle, it is often really hard for
foreigners to be provided with such permits and actually work in Lebanon."
Children born of foreign mothers and Lebanese fathers, meanwhile, enjoy
the right to Lebanese nationality.
Born to an Iraqi father and Lebanese
mother, 25-year-old Rayan (not her real name) works as an accountant in a local
company. “As I only have a three-year residence permit on the basis of being
born to a Lebanese mother [and foreign father], I am working illegally,” she
said.
To work legally, Rayan would have to pay more than US $2,500 per
year to obtain the necessary papers. “Considering the low salaries in Lebanon, I
can’t afford to pay such an amount,” she said.
Children of foreign men
are not entitled to public health care, social welfare and are treated unequally
in terms of education.
"Children of foreign fathers are allowed entry to
public schools, but it’s often made difficult as Lebanese pupils have priority,"
said Masri from CRTD. "They often face refusal."
"Children of poor
families end up being illiterate and excluded from society," she
added.
While Lebanese pay the equivalent of US $100 annually to register
in the public Lebanese University, Rayan had to pay more than US
$600.
"And I could not take part in the university's political life," she
said. "As a foreigner, I have no right to vote and no right to register in a
political party or to be a candidate."
Similarly, three-year renewable
residence permits are available to foreign women married to Lebanese men, but
not to foreign men married to Lebanese women, according to Iqbal Doghan from the
Lebanese Working Women’s League.
Foreign men can request a one-year
residence permit, which costs approximately US $700, provided they do not
work.
“If ever they decide to work legally and get a work permit, General
Security asks them to open a bank account with a huge amount of money –
depending on their job classification – as a guarantee," Doghan
explained.
"As an engineer, my husband was asked to open a bank account
with US $200,000," said Nadira. "He’s now working in Saudi Arabia."
While
no official statistics are available, CRTD Director Lina Abou Habib said the
organisation was aware of some 1,100 Lebanese women married to foreign men.
Not eligible for any benefits, many such couples never bother to
register, while others fear that the government might find out that husbands are
working illegally.
"Many end up leaving the country," said Abou Habib,
adding that racism also sometimes comes into play.
“While westerners
will be easily given residence permits, it’s much harder for other Arabs and men
from third-world countries in Lebanon," she said.
In November 2005, a
national campaign called "My nationality, a right for me and my family" was
launched on the initiative of several local civil society
organisations.
The campaign is appealing to the government and parliament
to assert the full citizenship rights of Lebanese women, calling for the
"amendment of the articles deemed discriminatory against women”.
However,
the issue remains highly controversial.
"Politicians fear that if women
are allowed to pass their nationality onto their husbands, many Palestinians
will take advantage of this and start marrying Lebanese women en masse," said
Ahmad Halimi of the Popular Aid for Relief and Development NGO that works with
Palestinians in Lebanon.
Some 350,000 Palestinians refugees are
registered in Lebanon with the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian refugees
(UNRWA), while local NGOs estimate there could be a further 100,000 who are not
registered.
“The two pretexts given are that allowing Lebanese women to
give their nationality to their husband and children could have an impact on the
sectarian balance, but also that it would help Palestinian refugees gain
Lebanese nationality,” explained Abou Habib.
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