Five months after the end of the mandate of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, information on a new naturalization decree has begun to leak strongly in preparation, according to which Lebanese citizenship will be granted to hundreds of people.
The Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that the potential beneficiaries of this decree are Syrian and Iraqi businessmen, among others. Asharq Al-Awsat learned from informed sources that “there are requests for offers for Syrian financiers interested in obtaining a Lebanese passport. in exchange of large sums of money to be paid for this privilege “.
Sources confirmed that “the specialized offices in clearing operations are now working to complete the documentation required for the naturalization decree. “He stressed that these transactions” include Iraqi financiers present in Lebanon and Syrian businessmen residing abroad, who have instructed these offices to obtain the necessary papers and documents a tale scope”.
The newspaper added that “dozens of Syrian financiers are interested in obtaining a Lebanese passport, which gives them freedom of movement in the light of international sanctions,” in particularly American, who hit the Syrian regime and those close to it “, and stressed that” the Lebanese nationality frees them enormously in the process of transferring money outside “.
The mandate of the President of the Republic in Lebanon does not lapse unless it seals it with a similar naturalization decree, according to which citizenship is granted to people according to the considerations he deems appropriate, and President Aoun began his mandate with a similar decree that included about 200 people, most of them Syrians close to the Bashar al-Assad regime, and some of them were found to be listed on the US sanctions list.
In parallel to emphasizing the gravity of this problem and accelerating the pace of its implementation, Asharq Al-Awsat cited sources familiar with the atmosphere of the Baabda Palace, stating that the naturalization decree “is not a priority for President Michel Aoun and his team, because his interests are currently focused on important benefits, on the economic and financial rescue process and on reforms ”. However, the sources admitted to Asharq Al-Awsat that “there are applications for naturalization from suitable people, some of whom are overwhelmed by humanitarian situations, such as people married to Lebanese women, but the decree is not on fire.”
However, the source recalled that “President Aoun has the constitutional right to grant citizenship to those who deserve it”. “In the last year of each mandate, the president of the republic issues a decree of naturalization, and this is a constitutional right,” he said. He gave examples in to which President Michel Suleiman “granted citizenship to 7,000 people and President Elias Hrawi gave it to 300,000 people, and President Amin Gemayel and other presidents accepted it”.
Although the Ministry of the Interior is a mandatory step for any such decree, no such decree has been served and a source from the Interior Ministry indicated to Asharq Al-Awsat that the ministry “did not receive any information. in this about so far, in particular that the Directorate of the Personal Statute is concerned with the scrutiny of this decree, and the names it contains, and the signature of the Minister of the Interior on the decree is mandatory.
Public policy expert Ziad Al-Sayegh, in his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, points out that “people obtained Lebanese citizenship more than 20 years ago and became authentic Lebanese, and every day their citizenship is put in discussion, and there is who to put in discuss their Lebanese nationality and ask for their removal “.
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