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She came to the United States with the story of the painful road her country is traveling to achieve democracy and quality living conditions for her people.
She said hope is returning to a land bruised by war, telling her audience that her support for Liberians everywhere, no matter the legal status they aspire to or might have attained—a clear reference to ‘Dual Citizenship’-- remains amongst her topmost considerations.
Speaking at the distinguished Carlson Lecture Series at the University of Minnesota on Friday, President Sirleaf declared her support for ‘Dual Citizenship’ for Liberians, noting that the benefits of such an initiative is to enable those affected to return home anytime to contribute toward the process of reconstruction and national development.
Liberian laws do not permit its citizens to hold dual citizenship. According to reports, a Bill was introduced before the Liberian House of Representatives in 2007 to protect Liberians from involuntary loss of their citizenship when they become naturalized citizens of another country or serve in the Armed Forces of another country.
In a lengthy examination of the ‘Dual Citizenship’ debate, Mr. Arthur Dennis, writing in The Liberian Journal, stated:”
In effect, the global population of dual and multiple citizenship holders has gradually been increasing since 1945. For example, today the United States alone is believed to be hosting over 40 million dual and multiple citizenship holders. Though U. S. immigration Law contains no provision on dual or multiple citizenship, according to the U. S. Department State, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Kawakita Vs. U. S. 343 U. S. 717 ( 1952), stated that:
“Dual nationality is a status long recognized in the law and that a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both. The mere fact that he asserts the rights of one citizenship does not mean that he renounces the other….”
However, Mr. Paul K. Kennedy, another Liberian, writing on the topic "PETITION FOR DUAL CITIZENSHIP FOR DIASPORA LIBERIANS; IS THIS THE APPROPRIATE TIME?", saidLiberia lacks the system of birth registry or statistics which provides data that could be used to determine or identify its citizens whether home or abroad:
“Dual citizenship issue is more of a political issue…than economics and social development question… and that people mostly pursuing such are meanly seeking its personal or individual benefits rather than national interest;
Mr. Kennedy therefore concludes that Liberia does not possess the human and material resources required to adequately address the issue of ‘Dual Citizenship’.
He said “it will be necessary to discuss this issue when Liberia is economically and politically stable with the infrastructures and mechanisms to properly address such issues”.
With Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf throwing her heavy political weight behind the legalization of the ‘Dual Citizenship’ status for Liberians across the globe, the debate is likely to shift towards the approval of the status.
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