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AMMAN — Jordanian women called on the government on Wednesday to ensure children born in the Kingdom, whose fathers are foreign citizens, full citizenship and rights in the country.
The Kingdom denies birthright citizenship to children of Jordanian mothers and foreign fathers, however guaranteeing it in the opposite case, members of grass-roots movement Arab Women Organisation of Jordan (AWO) told a conference in Amman, organised together with the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Earlier this year the government pledged to grant full civil rights, excluding citizenship, to foreign husbands and children of Jordanian women but it recently changed the term to “services-related privileges”, as critics charged that the move was prelude to settle Palestinians permanently in Jordan, as many of these family members come from the Gaza Strip.
“We must put together all our efforts and fight for women’s rights, building up momentum as we are approaching the International Women’s Day,” AWO President Randa Qsous said.
“Jordanian women should enjoy the same rights granted to men as these are human rights. We want to put an end to discrimination,” she added.
Around 84,000 Jordanian women are married to foreign citizens in the Kingdom with some 340,000 children of transnational marriages unable to access the same basic rights of children of Jordanian nationality, government figures show.
Jordanian women are prevented from passing on their citizenship to either spouses or children, who need visas and residency permits to live in the Kingdom, thus shuttling between police stations and health centres to obtain security clearances and medical reports.
Their children are mostly compelled to enroll in private schools.
EU Ambassador to Jordan Joanna Wronecka said Europe supported women’s development in the Kingdom, helping them to improve and achieve their rights.
“I emphasise the importance of women’s participation in every sector of life in Jordan through different methods spanning from political dialogue to projects on the ground. The EU welcomes the dialogue on granting full citizenship to all children in the country,” Wronecka said.
The Kingdom denies access to public services to foreign male citizens married to Jordanian women restraining them also from obtaining driving licences and jobs without previous work permits.
“Women should keep fighting for their rights,” MP Wafa Bani Mustafa said while remembering the many victories women had so far enjoyed in the country, thanks to pioneering activists, like the increase in the number of Lower House seats reserved for women.
“We want Jordan to become a reformed and developed country but this is impossible if we do not ensure full gender equality. We ask our country to bestow the same rights on its sons and daughters,” Bani Mustafa said, adding she was fighting for women’s rights in Parliament like women should do in their everyday life.
Nima Habashneh, founder of the campaign “My mother is Jordanian, and her nationality is a right for me”, told The Jordan Times the reason why Jordan still faces such discrimination problems was due to the scarce importance given to women in the country.
The 55-year-old from Amman said she had been struggling all her life for her husband, a Moroccan national, and their six children.
“I always had to make sure I had enough money to ensure my children education and health service. It was a struggle for them and for myself; this is the reason why I started this campaign,“ Habashneh said.
“We first took to the street seven years ago. It was only me and my two daughters, but now it has become an issue of national concern even though the government has not done anything yet. But we will keep fighting.”