By Rana Husseini

AMMAN – The founder of a group of women married to foreigners who are demanding citizenship rights for their children on Tuesday said they will not give up their plans to establish a society.

“We are not going to give up and will apply 100 times if we have to. It is our right to have a society,” said Nimat Habashneh, who heads the group and is also the founder of a Facebook page to drum up support for their demands.

The announcement follows the Registry Council’s rejection of a request by the group to form a society for Jordanian women married to foreigners.

Activists have been calling on the government to amend the Citizenship Law to allow Jordanian women to pass on their nationality to their children and husbands, a privilege that is only granted to Jordanian men married to foreign women.

They have also repeatedly called on the government to ensure equality in the law, since these women have to shuttle between police stations and health centres every year to obtain security clearances, residency permits and medical reports for their foreign children.

They must obtain residency permits for their children if they wish to enrol them in private or public schools. read more