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Nawwar Najmeh: Proposal to Grant Citizenship to Children of Syrian Women Has Not Reached the People’s Assembly
Syrian People’s Assembly member Nawwar Najmeh said the Assembly has not yet received a draft proposal allowing Syrian women married to non-Syrians to pass citizenship on to their children. He added that next week’s session schedule does not include discussion of the proposal.
Najmeh’s remarks followed Social Affairs and Labour Minister Hind Qabawat’s announcement that the proposal had reached the “approval stage.” On November 4, during a seminar at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Qabawat said a committee had been formed under the Interior Ministry to study the proposal. It includes representatives from the ministries of religious endowments and social affairs and labour, as well as the State Council.
Najmeh said announcing the proposal before it had been referred to the Assembly had put lawmakers under public pressure before they had seen its details. He said mothers have the right to pass their citizenship on to their children, but added that he would not state a position on the proposal before reviewing its text. He said consideration would begin once the proposal was referred to the relevant committees, after which it would be presented to the Assembly for discussion, amendment and a vote.
In remarks to Al Hadath TV, Najmeh called for an assessment of the number of potential beneficiaries and the proposal’s possible economic, social and demographic effects. He estimated that it could affect hundreds of thousands of people, but did not cite verified figures. He also said the children of foreign fighters were unlikely to be the main obstacle, while pointing to concerns about settlement in the case of Syrian women’s children with Palestinian fathers. He also referred to the children of Syrian women who married members of Iranian militias or Hezbollah, as well as Lebanese people who settled in Syria during the Lebanese Civil War.
Under Article 3 of Syria’s 1969 Nationality Law, a child born to a Syrian father automatically acquires Syrian citizenship, whether born inside or outside the country. A child born to a Syrian mother acquires citizenship if born in Syria and their legal paternity has not been established.
