Collective Action
Beirut protesters slam naturalization decree
The “My Nationality is My Dignity” campaign protested Sunday in support of granting Lebanese women the ability to pass their nationality onto their children, an issue that recently returned to the fore after the passage of a naturalization decree.
Demonstrators gathered at Riad al-Solh square in Downtown Beirut, calling to overturn laws that currently prohibit Lebanese women from passing their citizenship onto their children and foreign spouses.
The protest comes after President Michel Aoun signed a controversial naturalization decree to grant Lebanese citizenship to over 400 foreign nationals, to the outrage of those who have supported the cause of the My Nationality is My Dignity campaign.
“Today we gather from different areas in Lebanon to denounce the naturalization decree, and to denounce the marginalization of the children of Lebanese mothers married to foreigners, [and the marginalization of] stateless people or those whose [status] is understudy,” campaign coordinator Mustafa Shaar said at the protest, according to a statement released by the campaign.