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Italy plans to grant citizenship to the children of internationally protected refugees

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The Italian Ministry of the Interior plans to introduce limited ius soli for the Italian-born children of persons who were granted asylum or subsidiary protection. Currently even if they have spent their entire life in Italy, such children receive the status of their parents, and must apply for citizenship after they reach 18. Italian nationality is generally transferred by ius sanguinis, so this would be a significant departure from this principle. However it will apply to a narrowly circumscribed category of cases, estimated to include no more than 200 persons. Further, the government does not intend to enshrine the change into law, but would rather issue an interpretative order expanding the scope of the existing provisions for children of unknown or stateless parents.

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Danish parliament votes to allow dual citizenship

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After several years of consideration the Denmark changes its stance on dual citizenship and the parliament approved an amendment to allow it unconditionally. The justice minister Karen Hækkerup stated the reasons for this change of heart: “Many people today choose to settle in foreign countries, but still retain a strong attachment to their country of origin … We should not force them to choose.”

 

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Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act or Fostering a Citizenship of Fear?

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Bill C-24 is an act pending in the Canadian Parliament that could bring significant amendments to Canada’s citizenship legislation. Although the reform intends to strengthen the Canadian Citizenship Act, Lorne Waldman and Audrey Macklin describe the resulting state of affairs as fostering a citizenship of fear. Others have said that the bill would create second class citizens (Patti Tamara Lenard), because if passed, it would allow the government to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Canadians should they commit certain crimes or fraud. The amendments will introduce a question in  the naturalisation process on whether the applicant intends to stay in Canada following naturalisation. In our globalised world, the proposed amendments to Canada’s citizenship legislation seem to weaken rather than strengthen Canadian citizenship.

 

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EU citizens disenfranchised in the UK

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A number of EU citizens resident in the UK complained that they found themselves unable to vote in the elections for European Parliament there, because of the complicated registration system. Even people who have been on the electoral rolls and had voted in local elections before were expected to ‘opt in’ in order to vote for MEPs in the UK, otherwise they were supposed to be voting for MEPs in their home country. Such a default rule runs against the spirit of free movement which supposes that EU citizens shall exercise their rights where they live. It is even more problematic as come countries, including the UK itself, restrict the voting rights of their non-resident citizens and the European Commission had already expressed concern about it earlier this year. 

 

Read more in the Guardian.

Read more about disenfranchisement and Commission’s action.

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Redefining German identity – President Gauck calls for a new understanding of the German “we”

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Last week German Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck hosted a ceremony of naturalization in his residence Schloss Bellevue. In his address to 22 new citizens he called for a new understanding of German identity. Germany’s head of state pointed to a need for accommodating immigrants also in a symbolic way: “There is a new German ‘we’, the union of the diverse.” At the same time, he hailed the successful integration of 16 million immigrants since the republic’s birth.  The former pastor promoted an affirmative approach to immigration as a precondition for discussing in a relaxed manner the problems of an immigration society. Pointing to a recent reform of the German ‘option model’ of citizenship, he acknowledged dual citizenship as an “expression of the lived experience of a growing number of people”.  The ceremony was at the same time a celebration of the 65th Constitutional Anniversary.

One day later in the Bundestag German-Iranian author Navid Kermani also addressed the issue of German immigration. In his Anniversary speech he made a conciliatory move by combining his lament over insufficient recognition of guest-workers’ merits in the past with a vicarious expression of immigrants’ gratitude for the German provision of freedom.

 

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Re-elected Orban calls for autonomy for the Hungarians abroad

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Upon his formal reelection as a prime Minister, Victor Orban stated that he would continue his policies of uniting the nation “beyond the borders” and claimed that “Hungarians living in the Carpathian basin are entitled to have dual citizenship, are entitled to community rights, and also autonomy.” During his previous term of office, he had already granted Hungarian citizenship to many of them and their votes contributed to his landslide victory in the last month’s elections. According to Reuters, he has pointed to the 200,000 ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, “entitled to Hungarian citizenship and also the right to self-administration.” Ukraine, as Slovakia, does not accept that its citizens adopt a foreign nationality. Orban’s proposal is therefore bound to be controversial.

Read more details by Reuters, Euronews, and Budapest Business Journal. 

Read our earlier news on naturalisations of ethnic Hungarians abroad and on their role in the recent elections here. 

 

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