ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s parliament is likely to pass a legislation that would bar children born to foreign nationals from getting the country’s citizenship.
We News learnt that the coalition government moved the proposed bill in the National Assembly – the lower House of Parliament – proposing amendments to the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951.
The proposed legislation was sent to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly which ratified the amendments in its meeting held on November 11.
The National Assembly (NA) would vote on the new legislation. Later it would be sent to the Senate for its nod to complete parliamentary approval.
The proposed law tagged Citizenship Law Amendment Bill, proposes that children born to a Pakistani citizen or permanent resident, or those who have resided in the country for ten years, are eligible for citizenship by birth.
A person born in Pakistan shall be a citizen of Pakistan by birth, if any one of the parents of the person, at the time of birth, was a citizen of Pakistan or a permanent resident of Pakistan or he has been ordinarily residing in Pakistan, for the period of ten years commencing from the date of his birth.
The draft legislation proposed that the Federal Government by order or with respect to a particular class may grant nationality to those foreigners who fulfil the criteria set in the Citizenship Act.
According to the proposed bill, a person born after the commencement of this Act shall be a citizen of Pakistan by descent if his father is a citizen of Pakistan at the time of his birth.
The bill was tabled in the National Assembly in July this year. Pakistan’s Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Law and Justice, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the Bill to amend the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951.
“The citizenship of the country was being granted to every child of foreign nationals born in Pakistan,” he said while presenting the bill in the lower house of Pakistan.
Now a new amendment is being introduced stating that if either parent is a Pakistani citizen, the child can be granted Pakistani citizenship, said the Minister.
He said that the United Kingdom (UK) was the first country to introduce citizenship laws.
The Speaker of National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq referred the proposed bill to the Committee concerned for detailed deliberations.
The proposed bill aims to regulate the nationality of people who have lived in Pakistan for 20 years or were born in the country due to war, civil war, or political situations.
The proposed bill seeks to address the concerns of people who are unable to get a national indemnity card, open bank accounts, share property, or get a job due to their citizenship status.
