The nationality of married women in Lebanon is governed by decree № 15 of 19 January 1925, amended by the law of 11 January 1960.
Women are discriminated against in the current nationality law in three aspects:
Lebanese mothers cannot pass on their nationalities to their children. In other words, the nationality law confines kinship to fathers. Mothers are thus deprived of their basic rights as citizens. The nationality law also ties nationality to the soil, stating that "shall be considered Lebanese every person born on the territory of great Lebanon".
Lebanese wives cannot pass on their nationalities to foreign husbands.
Discrimination between mothers of Lebanese origin and mothers who acquire the Lebanese nationality, i.e. foreign women married to Lebanese men are entitled to acquiring the Lebanese nationality and to pass on their nationality to their children if they outlive their husbands while this right is denied to Lebanese women.
Although Lebanon ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1996, the State made reservations to article 9 (2) that states that "States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children," in addition to other articles which together constitute flagrant discrimination against women in Lebanon.
The arguments made against those demanding the amendment of the nationality law are not based on any factual or objective knowledge of what is happening inside society. Neither governments nor NGOs have any data or figures on the general trends relating to the marriage of Lebanese women to foreign nationals and on whether there is a deliberate focus on one nationality in particular.
One of the aspects of this lack of knowledge appears in the reactions of politicians to correct judgments delivered in cases relating to the nationality law and discrimination against women in this law.
How does this bias in the nationality law affect women?
Back to figures:
There were roughly 18,000 marriages between Lebanese women and foreign nationals in the 14 years between 1995 and 2010.[i]
This figure was reckoned based on the fertility rate in Lebanon that stands at 2.3%. It was then possible to show that those concerned between 1994 and 2008 were:
Parents: 18,000 x 2 = 36,000
Children: 18,000 x 2.3 = 41,400
Total: 77,400 affected persons (mother, father and child)
According to statistical figures then, the problem affects 77,400 individuals. This figure is significant when we recall that the population of Lebanon is 4 million persons, according to the most generous estimates.
These individuals live in Lebanon and they belong to 18,000 families according to the figures of the short time period between 1995 and 2008, i.e. 14 years.
Those 77,400 individuals belong to families prejudiced by the current nationality law, 41,400 of them are descendants of Lebanese mothers, who are Lebanese citizens whose obligations are clearly set out in the Constitution, in peace and in war. These women have the right to choose and elect their representatives, they are eligible to defend their country, pulling their weight when duty calls, and they pay taxes just like other citizens, if not more. Yet, these women live in their homeland like strangers, forced to stand in long lines to obtain residence permits for their children, and forced to beseech the "powerful" to obtain work permits for spouses, to make sure that their husbands remain at their side and with their children.
The problems women face as a result of discrimination against them in the nationality law:
The required residence permit for husbands and children;
Difficulty obtaining residence permits;
Husbands being forced to have fictive employment in the case of Palestinians as they are prohibited from owning property.
The problem of obtaining a residence permit is a nightmare not only for those with limited incomes but even for women who are of an above average class, who express their frustration over the time they have to spend on this issue and their anxiety over deadlines.
There are limited areas for work. The current situation keeps foreign men out of a large number of jobs, especially the liberal professions such as medicine, law, engineering and pharmacy.
While they can only practice other jobs in the private sector:
Education
Children are prohibited from choosing courses that lead to liberal professions such as medicine, engineering, pharmacy, etc. They end up travelling as they are not able to choose fields of education and work.
Healthcare
Whereas the problems of families enjoying good economic status are confined to residence permits and work, the suffering of other families due to financial issues go beyond those. Since women cannot confer their Lebanese nationality on their husbands and children, the latter are deprived of the social benefits that all Lebanese are entitled to, especially if the mother is not working and is not covered by social security provisions. This problem may be resolved with regard to children, but how can it be resolved with regard to spouses if the social security measures are not applicable to them?
Inheritance
Most women expressed their concerns about the issue of inheritance. "I’ll be forced in the future to sell all my property and transfer the funds abroad, as foreigners can only own a limited percentage of property," said one woman, "In the case of my death, my children won’t be able to inherit it as they need a decree."
In this context, the woman was very emotional as she is as Lebanese as men and she should have the same citizenship rights, and not be "a second-class citizen" as she put it.
Psychological Problems
One woman said, "I feel that my husband is going through an internal conflict because of an identity crisis, he has no other national affiliation, neither to Lebanon nor to any other country. And he has lost hope on the issue of nationality," adding, "I am worried about the future and fate of my children, in case they don’t get the nationality, their father would take them to his country and they will feel strangers there."
How Does This Affect National Integration?
The modern state is a state of rights, laws and citizenship. Moreover, in practice, it is a contractual relation between individuals and the state, whereby the state grants individuals all their rights and imposes on them obligations.
Nationality is what differentiates citizens from foreigners, and it is through nationality that individuals become citizens united by the state of rights and laws.
Nationality therefore becomes synonymous with citizenship – nationality being a symbolic confirmation of belonging to a homeland, making it a key element in the affirmation of citizenship.
We are seeing the negative impact of the discriminatory nationality law on national integration by depriving a significant number of children of the nationality of the State that they have grown emotionally and practically connected to through their mothers, leading to numerous financial and psychological problems despite them being citizens who were born and who live on its soil. This may lead to a real divide that would affect social integration, the substantive basis for the building of a modern state.
Equality before the law is not an end in itself; it is a means to social integration. Discrimination between the citizens of a state on the basis of sex or religion leads to a disruption in the relations between citizens and the state, and among the citizens themselves.
The nationality system that has accompanied the establishment and rise of the modern state is a safety valve for the existence of the political body. As a consequence, depriving children of their nationalities exposes this society to precarity and instability.
The political caveats against a fair and equal nationality law have an impact on a large number of Lebanese women and their families. Why should the Lebanese women pay the political price? Are not non-Lebanese women who marry Lebanese nationals a weighting element in political equations?
Is it not time to extricate the concept of equality from politics?
Amending the current nationality law should no longer be put off. Women are looking forward to it not as a favor they wish to obtain but as a right to be restored.
[i] This paragraph was chosen as it begins with the Nationality Law that was endorsed by the Government in 1995 until the launching of the Lebanese women’s rights project. The said project was implemented by the National Committee for the Follow-Up on Women’s Issues (CFUWI) along with several civil societies with the support of UNDP.
DONE