Australia: The complexities of citizenship (revocation debate)

2015/03/10 Leave a comment

Some of the Australian debate on the stated intent to expand citizenship revocation on security grounds by Clive Williams, an adjunct professor at Macquarie University’s Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism:

Australian citizens by birth cannot currently have their Australian citizenship revoked. Similarly, those conferred with citizenship after fully disclosing all relevant factors cannot have their Australian citizenship revoked.

Under existing legislation, Australian citizenship can be revoked if it is deemed “contrary to the public interest for the person to remain an Australian citizen”. Such a general ground would seem difficult to enforce. Legislative reform would be needed to make it easier to remove citizenship on national security grounds. The UK, France and Canada already have legislation to strip citizenship from dual nationals considered to pose a national security threat.

Once dual nationals have had their Australian citizenship revoked and any appeal grounds considered they could be forcibly deported from Australia provided that did not place them at risk – in which case they would have to go into indefinite immigration detention or go somewhere that would accept them.

Looking at the case of our Islamic State foreign fighters, it seems likely that many would have become Australians by birth as second-generation migrants. Many are probably also dual nationals by dint of their parents’ country of origin. It would also be worth checking the background of any foreign fighter who gained dual Australian citizenship by application to see if there are reasonable grounds for citizenship cancellation.

Another option for the government is extending the cancellation of passports on security advice.

The complexities of citizenship.

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10 Inconvenient Truths: Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism Deck

2015/03/07 Leave a comment

10 Inconvenient Truths - 2015 Cover.001Finally getting around to post the standard deck I have been using to talk about my book, and summarize some of the key messages.

10 Inconvenient Truths: Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias Deck

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Inside the shadowy world of birth tourism at US ‘maternity hotels’

2015/03/07 Leave a comment

More on birth tourism, US perspective. Still relatively light on the numbers (Canadian numbers are very small – see earlier post What happened to Kenney’s cracking down on birth tourism? Feds couldn’t do it alone | hilltimes.com):

Birth tourism companies have flourished in recent years, according to federal officials — and many of them prefer hard-to-track cash to fuel their operations.

That money, federal officials allege, is being pocketed by a group of individuals who have skirted tax law, flouted immigration laws and helped their clients defraud U.S. hospitals of tens of thousands of dollars for each baby born.

On Tuesday, federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the IRS, along with the Los Angeles Police Department, conducted a massive operation to raid more than 30 California locations operated by “birth tourism businesses.” Officials collected piles of evidence that will likely be used against some of the “maternity hotel” operators in future prosecutions.

The companies advertise their services online — and no foreign language skills are necessary to guess the subtext.

…According to court documents, birth tourists were told to avoid traveling directly to Los Angeles International Airport from overseas, to avoid raising suspicion. They might even consider studying U.S. culture and booking recreational visits in order to make their travel seem more legitimate, the company advised. Alternate arrival ports such as Hawaii or Las Vegas were preferable.

You Win paid more than $60,000 a year to rent Southern California apartments that housed the women, according to court documents. Federal officials believe that StarBabyCare operated a “maternity hotel” from at least 10 units at one complex.

via Inside the shadowy world of birth tourism at ‘maternity hotels’ – The Washington Post.

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It’s time Canada scrapped oath to Queen: Hepburn

2015/03/06 Leave a comment

Bob Hepburn on the citizenship oath and some of the silly commentary regarding those who oppose the current oath to the Queen:

“Forget the legalese,” wrote Naomi Lakritz, a Calgary Herald columnist. “Here’s a little populist language: If you don’t want to follow a basic rule for becoming a citizen of this great country — the best place in the world to live — then, don’t come here.

“And if you insist on coming here, don’t think you’re entitled to dictate how you are to become a citizen,” she added. “Go home, all three of you, because it’s not the oath that’s repugnant, it’s your attitude.”

A Toronto Sun editorial wailed about people who, like me, don’t like having the Queen as Canada’s head of state or who don’t like seeing the Queen’s face on our stamps and coins.

“If you don’t want to be a citizen of such a country, this may not be the place for you,” the Sun said.

Such attacks are unjustified and unwarranted, given that so many Canadian-born citizens are as outraged and disgusted as the three court challengers that Canada, which brags of its independence, still maintains ties with the British monarchy.

While judges may have decided they can’t change this law, there is nothing stopping Parliament from amending the Immigration Act.

Nothing but political will, that it.

It’s time Canada scrapped oath to Queen: Hepburn | Toronto Star.

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Chris Selley: NDP and Liberal positions on niqab during citizenship oath are pleasantly surprising

2015/02/28 Leave a comment

Chris Selley on the courage of both opposition parties in opposing the government in appealing the niqab ban at citizenship ceremonies:

It’s good news because it does seem unreasonable, as the Federal Court found, to go after veiled oaths when citizenship judges’ marching orders stipulate they should allow “the greatest possible freedom in the religious solemnization or the solemn affirmation [of the oath].” It does seem unreasonable for Mr. Harper to suggest allowing people to wear niqabs is “not how we do things here” when, like it or not, it plainly is. It does seem unreasonable to spend goodness knows how much appealing the Federal Court ruling on what seem to be highly dubious legal grounds. And it’s certainly unreasonable in a country that has enshrined religious freedom in the constitution — indeed, it’s grotesque — for the Conservatives to fundraise on the backs of someone wishing to exercise a religious freedom that the courts have thus far upheld. It’s one thing to support unveiled oaths; it’s quite another to endorse this approach to the issue.

No doubt fighting the good fight is reward enough for Mr. Mulcair and Mr. Trudeau. But the risk they’re running may not be as acute as it seems. With their seemingly popular niqabs-and-anti-terror package, Conservatives are essentially fronting a watered-down version of the Parti Québécois’ “values” campaign with a war bolted on. The values charter was popular in the polls, and so was the PQ. And when it came time for Quebecers to vote, it was no help to the PQ at all — not, it seems, because anyone changed their minds about Islam, but because their identitarian angst simply didn’t rank as a priority. Considering how unpopular the Conservatives are in Quebec on just about every other issue, that has to be an encouraging precedent for the opposition.

Chris Selley: NDP and Liberal positions on niqab during citizenship oath are pleasantly surprising

And on a less positive note, the BQ plays to xenophobic card, even less subtly than the Government:

A new ad from the Bloc Québécois is targeting NDP voters unhappy with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair’s comments Wednesday defending women’s right to wear the niqab at citizenship ceremonies.

“Should you have to hide your face to vote NDP?” the ad asks in French.

​The text is superimposed on an image of the House of Commons through the eyeholes of a black niqab, the full-face covering worn by certain Muslim women.

Bloc Québécois anti-niqab ad takes aim at NDP

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Oath of allegiance to Queen stays as requirement to obtain citizenship

2015/02/28 Leave a comment

No surprise that the ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court. Oath should be changed, but should be through political process, not the courts.

Would-be Canadians will have to keep taking an oath to the Queen after the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday refused to hear a challenge to the citizenship requirement.

The decision by the top court leaves intact an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that upheld the “symbolic” oath.

At issue is a provision in the Citizenship Act that requires would-be citizens to swear to be “faithful and bear true allegiance to Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, her heirs and successors.”

Oath of allegiance to Queen stays as requirement to obtain citizenship – Politics – CBC News.

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At Malala’s citizenship ceremony, will she be forced to bare her head? – Sheema Khan

2015/02/27 Leave a comment

Sheema Khan makes the point regarding the wedge politics of the PM and Minister Alexander regarding the niqab, and in Minister Alexander’s case, the hijab (from someone who should and does know better):

… A few weeks ago, a federal court agreed with Ms. Zunera. However, our Prime Minister, who is campaigning for re-election, said that it was “offensive” to hide one’s face while joining “the Canadian family”. These comments were made in Quebec, where there is strong opposition to the niqab and increasing Islamophobic sentiment. Our Prime Minister chose to pander to these fears.

Citizenship Minister Chris Alexander went further, and tweeted “niqab, hejab, burqa, wedding veil – face coverings have no place in cit oath-taking”. He explained that a hijab can be used to cover the face.

Regarding the burqa issue in the U.K., you have told The Guardian: “I believe it’s a woman’s right to decide what she wants to wear and if a woman can go to the beach and wear nothing, then why can’t she also wear everything?”

Please Malala, ask Mr. Alexander if you will be required to remove your head-cover at your ceremony. And ask Mr. Harper and Mr. Alexander why Ms. Zunera should remove her niqab. Your carry great moral authority and your words will assist Muslim women who are being used as cheap political fodder. We know that you will stand by your principles.

At Malala’s citizenship ceremony, will she be forced to bare her head? – The Globe and Mail.

And Geoffrey Hall’s commentary on the risks the Government is taking:

A sizeable number of Canadians have genuine concerns about Islam. Some may even view certain of its manifestations, including the wearing of a niqab, as un-Canadian. Sure, the Conservatives may be playing on fears and unstated prejudices. But there’s a political risk inherent in dismissing those fears and prejudices without confronting them — in allowing ignorance to fester below the surface and voice itself in chauvinistic bumper stickers.

What happened with the values charter in Quebec? Remember, the Marois government introduced it because it thought it had a winner — and in the early stages of the election campaign, that’s what it looked like. But then something happened: The discussion, dialogue and opposition it provoked brought together individuals and groups from diverse cultural backgrounds — all rallying around the shared value of tolerance. Intended to draw neat lines around what is and isn’t Quebec culture, the charter managed to unite a plurality of Quebecers against it.

Which is what happens sometimes when unspoken prejudices are uttered aloud — people are forced to confront what they think in the daylight of community opinion. Right now, the federal parties are road-testing their messages for the election campaign. The Conservatives, like all the parties, always need issues they can exploit to fire up their base — and going after un-Canadian outliers has worked for them in the past.

But a message intended for core or regional audiences can linger, and turn into a liability in the heat of a campaign. The question now is how far the Conservatives can push the “I love Canada — fit in” slogan before voters tell them to f@*k off.

The risks and rewards of identity politics (pay wall)

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ICYMI: Antisemitism — The Facts and the Hope | John Gerzema

2015/02/26 Leave a comment

Comparative Religious Attitudes CitiesInteresting comparative study across religions and cities, with strong conclusion of how best to proceed:

The data shows that anti-Semitism, at least in the countries surveyed, is stubborn, deep-seated and chronic. It is worse than anti-Catholic bigotry but not quite as widespread as anti-Muslim feelings. Yet here’s a critical distinction: within nations, people act-out against Jews more often than they do against Catholics and Muslims. Some of this behavior seems linked to events involving Israel. However, it would be wrong to suggest a causal link between expressions of anti-Semitism and Israeli policy. Last Fall’s conflict in Gaza, for instance, may have “unleashed” anti-Semitism, acting as a false catalyst, but the feelings against Jews exist independent of the Middle East. After all, if someone predisposed to hate Jews cites Israeli policy to justify their anti-Semitism, he or she is still an anti-Semite.

Yet not all our findings were bleak. As part of our study we tried to determine whether people were affected by media mentions of Israel. When we asked our survey respondents last August to read an unbiased report on the ongoing events in Israel and Gaza we saw expressions of anti-Jewish feelings decline. People who told us they were “somewhat open” to new information moved from a 14 percent to 25 percent likelihood of sympathizing with Israel. Those that were “very open” moved from 35 percent to 42 percent likelihood of sympathizing with Israel. We saw related reductions in the number of people who said they had negative thoughts about Jews in general.

So the data offers hope that hearts and minds can be affected by honest, reliable, unadulterated information. We can inform instead of inflame. We can teach instead of just talk. We can exercise our freedom of speech and freedom of the press as a means to contest cultural boundaries. The alternative is watching bigotry of all kinds — against Muslim or Jew, Catholic and, sadly, a long list of other groups — dominate the discussions around the world. The evidence is there that we can create change and counteract the hate that occurred last week and continues to be so pervasive and pernicious. It is up to all of us to engage, enlighten and educate.

Anti-Semitism — The Facts and the Hope | John Gerzema.

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ICYMI: Over €450 million: Malta’s “citizenship sale program” reports success – eTurboNews.com

2015/02/25 Leave a comment

Malta’s “citizenship for sale” program:

Malta’s Individual Investor Program (IIP) has now received over 400 applications since its launch in early 2014, which will result in over Euro 450 million (US$ 530 million) in Foreign Direct Investment.

This foreign direct investment comprises deposits, bonds, and real estate among other elements, and equates to approximately Euro 10 million (US$ 12 million) per week.

The first letters of citizenship approval-in-principle have been issued, and the first applicants will be issued with their certificates of naturalisation soon after their contribution, investment and residency requirements are fulfilled. There are over 40 nationalities represented among the applicants so far.

The IIP is a modern citizenship-by-investment program aimed at ultra-high net worth individuals and families worldwide. It was designed and is marketed internationally by Henley & Partners for the Government of Malta under a Public Services Concession. Andrew J. Taylor, Vice-Chairman of Henley & Partners, states, “Our firm understands the finest details of the IIP because we designed and created it with the Government of Malta. We are proud to work with the majority of families applying for citizenship through the program, who choose Henley & Partners because we are best positioned to ensure applicants adhere to all government regulations and follow all steps needed for a successful application.”

While it has the advantage of being open and honest, there is something sleazy about such an approach.

Over €450 million: Malta’s “citizenship sale program” reports success – eTurboNews.com.

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National security: Australian PM Abbott would revoke citizenship as part of extremism fight

2015/02/24 1 Comment

Out of the Harper playbook, down to the flags and the event being outside of Parliament:

The prime minister chose to deliver his long-awaited national security address at an event at the Australian federal police (AFP) headquarters in Canberra, rather than to parliament.

Standing in front of six Australian flags, Abbott said the case of Man Haron Monis – the gunman involved in the fatal Martin Place siege in Sydney in December – showed how the country had been too willing to give “those who might be a threat to our country the benefit of the doubt”.

“There is always a trade-off between the rights of an individual and the safety of the community,” he said. “We will never sacrifice our freedoms in order to defend them but we will not let our enemies exploit our decency either.

“If immigration and border protection faces a choice to let in or keep out people with security questions over them – we should choose to keep them out.

“If there is a choice between latitude for suspects or more powers to police and security agencies – more often, we should choose to support our agencies. And if we can stop hate preachers from grooming gullible young people for terrorism, we should.”

Abbott made some broader comments about immigrants, saying he had “spent many hours listening to Australians from all walks of life” and they were “angry because all too often the threat comes from someone who has enjoyed the hospitality and generosity of the Australian people”.

Australia was a country built on immigration and was “much the richer for it”, he said, but citizenship was “an extraordinary privilege that should involve a solemn and lifelong commitment to Australia”.

“People who come to this country are free to live as they choose – provided they don’t steal that same freedom from others,” he said.

“Those who come here must be as open and accepting of their adopted country as we are of them. Those who live here must be as tolerant of others as we are of them.

“No one should live in our country while denying our values and rejecting the very idea of a free and open society.”

And the following comment, playing to the gallery, as Harper’s use of the niqab issue, basically accusing Muslim leaders, with whom Australian police and security agencies are likely working with to reduce the risk of radicalization, of bad faith:

“I’ve often heard western leaders describe Islam as a ‘religion of peace’,” Abbott said. “I wish more Muslim leaders would say that more often, and mean it.”

National security: Abbott would revoke citizenship as part of extremism fight | Australia news | The Guardian.

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