Monday, July 03, 2006
Probably everybody heard of it: the Dutch government is at its breakdown. The matter regarding Ayaan Hirshi Ali was the argument for D66 party to quit the coalition. What happened is astonishing.
Hirshi Ali is a member of the parliament for some time. Before her political career, she lived in Somalia and -due to the circumstances in that country- she sought asylum in The Netherlands. For a couple of reasons she lied about her name. The real name wasn't Hirschi Ali. Apparently she used her grandfathers name. After 5 years she requested for Dutch nationality. Again she used her "newly" adopted name in her application for naturalisation. Hirschi Ali afterwards became Dutch.
It was commonly known that Hirschi Ali lied about her name. In various interviews and in her book she mentioned this. Her last interview at "Nova", triggered Minister Verdonk of the IND to review the citizenship of Hirschi Ali. Verdonk revoked the Dutch citizenship suddenly due to the fact that she lied about her name.
Because Verdonk reacted this suddenly, the other parties stated that Verdonk should revoke her decision. Verdonk did give her back the Dutch nationality, but requested Hirschi Ali to make a apologetic statement.
All immigrants who - for some reason or another - lie about their name or any other circumstances should get the same treatment. They should be granted Dutch nationality even if they lied: as this would be equal treatment. But, Verdonk is not the most fair player and I don't expect this kind of a favorable ruling in the future.
Hirshi Ali is a member of the parliament for some time. Before her political career, she lived in Somalia and -due to the circumstances in that country- she sought asylum in The Netherlands. For a couple of reasons she lied about her name. The real name wasn't Hirschi Ali. Apparently she used her grandfathers name. After 5 years she requested for Dutch nationality. Again she used her "newly" adopted name in her application for naturalisation. Hirschi Ali afterwards became Dutch.
It was commonly known that Hirschi Ali lied about her name. In various interviews and in her book she mentioned this. Her last interview at "Nova", triggered Minister Verdonk of the IND to review the citizenship of Hirschi Ali. Verdonk revoked the Dutch citizenship suddenly due to the fact that she lied about her name.
Because Verdonk reacted this suddenly, the other parties stated that Verdonk should revoke her decision. Verdonk did give her back the Dutch nationality, but requested Hirschi Ali to make a apologetic statement.
All immigrants who - for some reason or another - lie about their name or any other circumstances should get the same treatment. They should be granted Dutch nationality even if they lied: as this would be equal treatment. But, Verdonk is not the most fair player and I don't expect this kind of a favorable ruling in the future.
