Parliament must enact law so that the kids of those parents who have obtained citizenship by birth can become bona fide citizens

Citizenship has always been a highly complicated issue in the country. People who have migrated to Nepal and have been living here permanently for many years find it hard to obtain citizenship due to the complicated legal provisions. The new constitution, promulgated in 2015, has clearly stated that no citizen shall be deprived of Nepali citizenship. It means all people living in Nepal have the right to acquire citizenship paper. However, the Federal Parliament, which is the sole authority to make a law on this issue, is taking much time to make the first amendment to the Citizenship Act. A bill to amend the Citizenship Act was tabled in the Federal Parliament by the Ministry of Home Affairs last August. But this bill is still under consideration in the parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee. Due to the delay in making amendments to the bill, thousands of bona fide Nepali children born to parents who had obtained Nepali citizenship by birth have been deprived of the official paper essential to get enrolled in college, open a bank account, get employment, purchase land or enjoy the government services they are entitled to.

Considering the plight faced by those persons, the Home Ministry on Wednesday issued a circular to all 77 district administration offices (DAOs) directing them to issue citizenship paper by descent to the children born to parents who have already obtained Nepali citizenship by birth. According to Article 11 (3) of the constitution, a child of a citizen having obtained the citizenship of Nepal by birth prior to the commencement of the constitution shall, upon attaining adulthood, acquire the citizenship of Nepal by descent. The ministry has told the DAOs to issue citizenship by descent to those persons applying for it by attaching the citizenship papers of their father and mother as per the Citizenship Act, Citizenship Rules and Certificate Distribution Manual.

The home ministry’s decision will surely give succour to those who had been denied Nepali citizenship for long. Other legal experts have also welcomed the move, terming it a “progressive decision”. However, there is a caveat: Will the DAOs follow the circular? It may be recalled that then home minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar had also issued a similar circular eight years ago, asking the DAOs to issue citizenship to individuals born to the parents who had obtained citizenship papers by birth. But many DAOs refused to entertain it, citing the absence of a law. The Supreme Court had also told the ministry not to execute it until a law to this effect was enacted. Hence, this circular will not wholly address the hardships faced by those children due to the absence of a law in line with the constitutional provision. The Federal Parliament must enact the law at the earliest to see that those people can acquire citizenship without any legal hurdles. Citizenship papers by birth were issued to as many as 170,042 people, who had been living in Nepal well before the first week of April 1990, prior to the first Constituent Assembly election held in 2008. A law to this effect should have been enacted soon after the adoption of the constitution. The State should see to it that no citizen is rendered stateless.

Help with sanitation

The devastating storm that lashed parts of Bara and Parsa districts in south central Nepal this week has forced many a poor family to live in the open without a roof over their heads. While it is natural for the government and the aid agencies to focus on distributing food, tents and medicines to the locals, it seems the need to erect toilets and provide drinking water has largely skipped their attention. In such a situation, the risk of an outbreak of epidemics runs high especially with the rising temperature. The poor sanitation could lead to an outbreak of diarrhoea, dysentery and fever in the areas.

The lack of toilets particularly affects women and girls, who have heightened needs, especially during a natural disaster. So it is necessary that they be supported with items that will promote personal hygiene and health, such as sanitary pads, soaps and undergarments. Pregnant women and new mothers have their own special needs, such as nourishing food and clothes for the newborn. Both the federal and provincial governments must act with urgency to meet the basic needs of the locals so that life can return to normalcy soon. When the locals are already hard pressed, another calamity would be disastrous.