Iraqi children granted full citizenship in Ukraine

 

(26 January 2012) – The two young sisters, aged one and two, were born in Ukraine after their parents had fled Iraq due to the persecution Christians suffer at the hands of Iraqi militants in the city of Mosul.

In what JRS Ukraine director Fr David Nazar SJ (pictured left) called a ''precedent setting case'', the two children were granted full citizenship status; one month later, their parents were given full refugee protection.

“This is the first case that we've had where people from Iraq have been granted refugee status”, said Fr Nazar.

Persecution in Iraq

''They have done some pretty brutal things to Christians in that area'', says Fr Nazar. He described how terrorists in that region carry out bus checks where the people on board are forced to display their passports – the religion of every Iraqi citizen is declared in their passport.

Christians, he stated, are ''yanked off the bus'' and can be beaten, shot or told in no uncertain terms to leave the country. ''There have certainly been killings of Christians; that's been a bit of a sport in parts of Iraq'', he said ominously.

Setting a legal precedent in Ukraine

  Fr Nazar was ''pleasantly surprised'' with the outcome of the children's quest for citizenship because there is ''often a conflict between law and administrative procedure''. The country is still finding its feet in democratic terms. ''A lot of the laws have not worked their way into the system or there's been no precedent,” he said.

Ukraine law states that any child born in the country, regardless of their parent's nationality, is eligible for citizenship. The problem when it comes to the children of refugees, however, is that many have either had their documentations stolen or have sold it. The procedures require parents to produce their citizenship documents in order for the children to be granted Ukrainian citizenship. No exception is foreseen in the law.

The ''complexity of the bureaucracy'' and lack of legal precedent in Ukraine often yields negative decisions from the authorities. ''Normally, they say they don't know what to do so it's easier to say 'no''', said Fr Nazar. However, the ''bureaucracy is also honest in the sense that we just went to the authorities and legally asked for citizenship and they said, 'We have never seen a case like this. Let’s work it out together.’''

A different way to do advocacy

Even the judges in court are learning the laws and procedures on the job. ‘‘We’re sometimes telling the judges what the law is and the judges will be very thankful and say: 'give us a couple of days, we're going to study this'. A lot of our work is clarifying and lobbying, but in a good sense of the word “lobbying” because there is a basis in the law'', he said.

Although there was a lack of ''clear documentation'' and the parents had not at that point been granted refugee status, the authorities still decided to grant the children citizenship. Nazar puts this successful outcome down to the good work of JRS Ukraine's lawyers, and because JRS is ''a church organisation with a good reputation in the country''.

And while this is a feel good story for the family as a whole and for anyone who sympathises with the plight of refugees, it is also more than just a feel good story; because as Nazar puts it, ''the children of refugees have been granted citizenship on the basis of having been born here. That sets a precedent.''

Background documentation:

JRS Europe, 2011, No Other Option: Testimonies from asylum seekers living in Ukraine

 

Contact information:

Philip Amaral, advocacy officer

europe.advocacy@jrs.net

+32 2 250 32 23