The political and technical dimensions of granting or revoking nationality have recently escalated in several countries of the region. This is associated with a number of motives relevant to enhancing the state’s global position, as reflected in the UAE granting nationality to competent scientists, doctors, intellectuals, specialists and talented individuals, to encourage the flow of investment into the country. The Jordanian government adopted the same approach to improve the internal economic conditions. The Algerian government justified this course to confront terrorist operations and irregular migration that caused tensions in the relations with the EU countries. Furthermore, the Sudanese transitional government withdrew the Sudanese nationality by naturalization, especially from Syrians, as some were obtained through illegal procedures. Israel also passed the Law of Return this March in an attempt to enhance the demographic structure of the country.
Multiple interpretations:
There are a set of factors pertaining to the increasing politicization of nationality issues in the Middle East, which can be addressed as follows:
1- Enhancing the global visibility of the country:
This clearly applies to the UAE, as on January 30, 2021, the Cabinet approved the amendment of some legal provisions in the Federal law pertaining to nationality and passports, through which the citizenship may be granted to investors, professionals, talented individuals and their families. The amendment of the law aims to appreciate rare competencies and attract intellectuals in a way that enhances the development process within the UAE. This is called ‘reverse migration’.
The target groups for the decision include investors and individuals with specialized professions such as doctors, scientists, inventors, intellectuals and artists. The law also permits granting citizenship to family members of these groups, while retaining their current nationality. The amendments included a set of conditions and controls for granting nationality to each category. Investors are required to own a property in the UAE. Doctors and specialists are required to be specialized in a unique scientific field that is of importance to the UAE.
They should have contributions of studies and research that are of scientific value in their field of specialization. They should have at least ten years of practical experience. They should be members of a reputable organization in their respective field. Scientists should have contributions in the scientific field, such as winning prestigious awards, securing large funding for their research over the past ten years and obtaining letters of recommendation from scientific institutions within the UAE.
Talented individuals must have one or more patents approved by the Ministry of Economy or any international entity that is of an added value to the country's economy. Similarly, intellectuals and artists, must be ‘pioneers’ in fields of priority for the UAE. They must have one or more scientific awards in their field and a letter of recommendation from the respective UAE government agencies. Perhaps this approach will help in the State capacity-building in preparation for UAE's centenary establishment.
2- Encouraging the flow of investments:
On February 20, 2018, the Jordanian government decided to grant citizenship or permanent residency to about 500 investors annually, with the aim of encouraging investment flow into the country. Investors are required to deposit $ 1.5 M in the central bank without interest for five years, and to buy treasury bonds at the amount of $ 1.5 M for ten years at the interest rate determined by the Central Bank of Jordan. Investors may also buy shares in Jordanian companies for an amount of $ 1.5 M, and invest in small and medium companies for an amount of $ 1 M for a period of no less than five years.
Other alternatives include establishing or registering any investment project with a capital of no less than $1.5 M outside the Capital and a capital of no less than $ 2 M within the Capital. The investor may also be granted citizenship if they fulfill some conditions, including providing at least 20 job opportunities for Jordanians. Investors may get permanent residency in the country in return for buying a new property for $ 282,000 and keeping it for a period of no less than 10 years. Thus, Jordan is betting on the granting of citizenship as an incentive to help revive the national economy which has suffered from structural problems.
3- Minimizing harm to the country's national interests:
On March 3, Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Djerad announced during the weekly meeting that a draft law is being prepared, which includes the revocation of nationality from Algerians abroad who are involved in actions that harm the interests of the state. According to what was announced by Minister of Communication and Government Spokesman, Ammar Belhimer, “This law will be applied to an Algerian, who resides outside the national territory and who is involved in acts that intentionally seriously harm the interests of the state or harm national unity". [1]
Belhimer added that the law targets "those who do activity or become involved abroad in a terrorist or subversive group or organization, or who finance or propagandize for it, as it concerns every person who has dealt with a country hostile to the Algerian state”[2]. He continued, “All of these measures comply with what international conventions allow and the appeal procedures have been exhausted"[3]. It is noteworthy that the Algerian government was prompted to consider this project mainly to adopt a preemptive strikes strategy in confronting terrorist operations.
Other explanations are relevant to deterring immigrants and refugees from joining terrorist organizations, which attract young Algerian immigrants to EU countries, especially irregular migrants. This caused double concern for both the sending countries and the receiving ones. This will be met with great European support. This comes in addition to the aim of neutralizing the capabilities of terrorist organizations abroad to carry out terrorist operations by communicating with local members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Nationality issues have sparked much controversy within Algeria. While some views support the government’s decisions to revoke the nationality of those involved in terrorist activities, others argue that no matter how serious the crimes may be, it is not possible to revoke their nationality for which their parents and grandparents fought and were martyred. The opposing view also believes that this new law violates the constitution and international conventions related to human rights.
4- Overcoming the liabilities of previous political regimes:
In October 2020, the Sudanese transitional government began taking practical measures to revoke the Sudanese nationality from foreigners, including ten thousand Syrians, who obtained it during the era of ousted President Omar al-Bashir. This took place after the Sudanese Ministry of Interior affairs gave a two-week period to all those who obtained the Sudanese nationality from 2014 to 2019 to check with the Migration and Identity Department, as there are suspicious violations of granting Sudanese nationality to Syrians in return for money within the previous regime. .
This decision caused widespread controversy within Sudan, as a group of Syrian citizens began to take legal measures to appeal. They based their appeal on the fact that they were impacted by this law, as some of them are investors in different fields, which incurs huge financial losses. Perhaps this explains previous measures taken, including the suspension of renewing passports of Sudanese of foreign origin, as well as the revocation of some Sudanese nationalities and the abolition of directives issued in 2014 to grant Sudanese nationality by naturalization.
5- Expanding the country's demographic structure:
This applies to Israel after the Law of Return was passed at the beginning of this March. This aims at allowing non-Orthodox converts to immigrate to Israel and obtain citizenship, which puts an end to a decade and a half of legal battle over this. However, this may not be the end, as the Knesset may set a different arrangement for the law at any time.
Different Scenarios
Accordingly, it is clearly seen that there is a discrepancy in the approaches adopted by different governments regarding nationality granting and revocation. The motives of the approaches were relevant to state capacity-building, attracting investors, combating terrorism, protecting national security, blocking ‘Brotherhood terrorism’ and enhancing legitimacy for transitional government systems.
