Today, 10 December is International Human Rights Day. The Lebanese
League for Women's Rights will be demonstrating downtown. Why? For a
change in the Nationality Law. Think about it. The right to pass on
your nationality to your child is a basic human right. In a world governed
by states and state governments you need to have an identifiable nationality
otherwise you are a paperless, stateless person without rights. Nearly
200,000 people in Lebanon today have no nationality. That's a lot in a
country of about 4 million people. A Lebanese woman does not have
the right to pass on her nationality to her children. That is simple
discrimination and in contravention of a number of international conventions.
On those grounds alone we should all be fighting for change. But
this position of principle hides the human facts. Imagine the
situation: you are the child of a Lebanese mother, but a foreign father
and that father has since left or died. You were born in Lebanon. You have
never lived anywhere else. Your father can't renew your nationality
anymore. You have to re-register every year as a foreigner. You have
problems getting into school, problems getting health insurance. Later in
life, getting into university is complicated. Some jobs are forbidden
to you. But in your heart you are Lebanese. You don't want to live
anywhere else. You can't live anywhere else. But you are not
recognised as Lebanese. You are effectively stateless. You have no
rights.
The UNDP tried to raise a campaign for change in 2009. In
Lebanon, changes in nationality get tied up with Palestinian issues. But
the statistics show that relatively few Lebanese women marry Palestinians and
Lebanese men who marry Palestinian women can pass on their
nationality.
So come on.... Let's do it. Let's change this discriminatory law.
Other Arab countries have. Why can't Lebanon?
Frances
Guy
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