The Standing Committee on Home Affairs passed the bill to amend the Pakistani Citizenship Act (Photo: AFP).
Ismail Khan, a 30-year-old young man from Afghanistan, has been living in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, for the past 20 years. He has been spending his days and nights in Pakistan for two decades with the dream that one day he will get Pakistani citizenship after which he will be able to breathe freely in the air of Islamabad.
For 20 years, Ismail Khan did not get the citizenship of Pakistan, but last month, when two twins were born to him, his dream of getting Pakistani citizenship for his children, if not for himself, seemed to be fulfilled.
But this dream of Ismail Khan was also shattered when on Monday the Standing Committee on Interior of the National Assembly of Pakistan passed the bill to amend the Pakistani Citizenship Law.
According to the text of the bill, if a child is born to a foreigner living in Pakistan, he will not get Pakistani citizenship, but the decision to grant citizenship will be made by looking at the legal status of the children’s parents living in Pakistan.
Ismail Khan has told Urdu News that about 20 years ago he had to come to Pakistan due to some unavoidable reasons. During this time, he made several attempts to get Pakistani citizenship by submitting applications to NADRA and other relevant institutions, but there was no progress.
She married another Afghan citizen in Islamabad last year and then gave birth to two twins in October this year.
Ismail Khan says that ‘where there was happiness in my house with the birth of children, the hope of getting Pakistani citizenship once again woke up in the hearts of us husband and wife.’
Ismail Khan was devastated to say that today, when he learned from local media that he will not be able to get citizenship even if he gives birth to children, his last hope of staying legally in Pakistan has died.
What is Pakistan Citizenship Amendment Bill 2024?
In July this year, the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan presented the Pakistan Citizenship Amendment Bill 2024 in the lower house i.e. the National Assembly, which aimed to change the procedure for granting citizenship to foreign nationals in Pakistan. After preliminary consideration of the bill, the National Assembly had referred it to the concerned Standing Committee.
In this regard, the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan had clarified that the purpose of this initiative is to convince the foreign citizens living illegally in Pakistan that if they stay in Pakistan, they will have to take the legal route.
The Pakistan Citizenship Amendment Bill 2024 mainly amends the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 by amending the provision of citizenship based on place of birth.
At least one of the parents must be a Pakistani citizen.
That is, if a child is born to a foreign citizen living in Pakistan, he will no longer be entitled to Pakistani citizenship. After the new amendments, citizenship will now be given to children based on the citizenship of their parents.
The bill states that if any of the parents of the born child are legally resident in Pakistan i.e. they are Pakistani citizens, then their children will also be called Pakistani citizens.
However, such foreign citizens who have been living in Pakistan for a long time but do not have the citizenship of Pakistan, in this case the children born to them will not be entitled to Pakistani citizenship.
The bill also states that if a foreign national has all the required documents to stay in Pakistan and is eligible for citizenship but is not granted Pakistani citizenship, he can approach the concerned department again, and After completing the legal requirements, they can get Pakistani citizenship.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the federal government has taken these steps to prevent the large-scale issuance of Pakistani citizenship to Afghan citizens through legislation. Illegal entry of Afghan nationals into Pakistan and their property rights have also been abolished through the bill.
