‘What will we do with the children who were born after 1994 and born Lebanese. What is their crime?’

Nayla Assaf
Daily Star staff

At least 700 people will find themselves in legal limbo following an announcement last week by Interior Minister Elias Murr that they will be stripped of their nationality.
This was the first batch of people whose nationality will be revoked after the Shura Council issued a unanimous ruling last May on a petition presented by the Maronite League challenging the controversial 1994 naturalization decree.
Following this ruling, the Interior Ministry, which was assigned by the Shura Council to study some 87,000 cases, designated a special committee to that effect headed by the commander of the Gendarmerie, Brigadier Said Eid.
Although the revocations are mostly based on cases where forged documents were presented, it is still not clear what is to become of those, whose Lebanese nationality will be annulled.
A source at the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian rights, said revoking nationalities after such a long time is “unfeasible” from a humanitarian point of view.
“What will we do with the children who were born after 1994 and born Lebanese? What is their crime? The source, who preferred not to give his name, said. According to him, many of the people naturalized in 1994 have got married.
“What will happen to their spouses?” he asked.
Also, in addition to the people whose documents were forged or incomplete, an estimated 10,000 Palestinians will be stripped of their nationality in light of the fact that the 1989 Taif Accord bans the settlement of Palestinians.
They will return to the status of refugees, which means that they are not allowed to own properties or occupy executive-level positions.
“What will happen to the Palestinians who have bought land and have found decent jobs?” the source asked.
“They are not guilty
of any crime, so technically
it is inhumane to punish
them in that way.”
Another point he raised, is the fact that within the last 10 years, many of these people have voted and therefore had an impact on the results of parliamentary and municipal elections.
“Does this mean that the election results are to be annulled?” he asked.
According to the source, all these questions remain to be answered since the state is dealing with the matter from a purely political point of view.
“The move is welcome,” said Kesrouan MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr, who is the lawyer for the Maronite League, “it is only fair that those who have received the nationality in an illegal manner should not have any rights.”
“As for those who deserve to have the nationality, and have obtained it in a regular manner, they are most welcome,” he said.
Although the rule raised eyebrows and was deemed by many as unethical, it was introduced to regulate the actions of the 1994 naturalization decree which was largely deemed unfair and unconstitutional.
The Christian community in general, and the Maronite League in particular, were the first to speak out against it, in fear that the move might tilt the confessional balance in the country, as 75 percent of those naturalized are Muslims.
According to former MP August Bakhos, who heads the parliamentary committee in charge of updating laws, “It is unfair that the cases are being studied in batches, because you cannot have
people live in perpetual fear that their nationality is going to be revoked.”
“They should do it once and for all because people have their lives and businesses to attend to and should be able to know what their rights are,” he said.
Bakhos added that the 1994 decree “was wrong from beginning to end. This is the only way to patch things up, but it should be done in one go by a special decree,” he said.