by Rana Husseini | Nov 24, 2013 | JORDAN TIMES

AMMAN — The government will form a ministerial committee to examine the possibility of granting civil rights to children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians, according to MP Wafaa Bani Mustafa.

“We had a meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and demanded several issues, including granting civil rights to families of Jordanian women married to foreign men,” Bani Mustafa told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

“I told the premier about the suffering of these families, citing cases I dealt with on the ground, and urged him to find a humanitarian solution to end their suffering,” the deputy added.

She said Ensour’s response on this matter “was positive, and he ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by Interior Minister Hussein Majali to examine the situation”.

“The premier instructed the government to provide him with statistics and what civil rights they have and what other political and social rights they are deprived of and get back to him with recommendations on what the government could do to help,” the MP added.

Bani Mustafa (Jerash, 1st District) is one of 23 deputies who are leading a coalition of independent parliamentary blocs that have recently proposed an initiative to engage in the decision-making process and set the ground for “concrete economic and political reforms” in the country.

Women’s groups and activists have been demanding for years that Jordanian women be allowed to pass on their citizenship to their children and spouses, a right that only Jordanian men enjoy.

These women face various difficulties, such as obtaining visas and residency permits for their husbands and children, who need them to enrol in private or public schools, shuttling between police stations and health centres every year to get security clearances and medical reports.

A government official confirmed that the premier “did in fact form a panel to examine this issue”.

“The premier expects concrete recommendations from the ministerial committee to address this matter,” the official told The Jordan Times on condition of anonymity.

Nimat Habashneh, who has been leading a six-year campaign to lobby the government to amend the Citizenship Law, said this step “if it happens, is excellent from a humanitarian perspective”.

Habashneh, who is the founder of a Facebook page which drums up support for women’s demands, was quick to add that the measure does not go far enough in giving Jordanian women their full citizenship rights.

“We are Jordanian women and partners in building our country and our society. It is unacceptable to be granted half the rights while men get full rights in this matter,” she told The Jordan Times.

Government officials have said in the past that the decision not to allow Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians to pass on their nationality is “solely political”.

Individuals and entities that oppose granting citizenship to family members of these women, particularly those with Palestinian husbands, say such a measure will only work to ensure “Israel’s ultimate plan of creating a substitute homeland for Palestinians in Jordan”.

SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES