Increased African populations are now in diaspora. They tend
to retain connection with mother countries through home visits and financial
remittances. Remittances and its economic impact seem to get political
attention. But there is so much scope for more African countries to put in
place Diaspora-friendly policies and strategies – a theme of this blog post.
If I can start close to home. The motivation to write this piece
grew from observations of my own beloved country of origin, Tanzania, in its attempt
to connect with its diaspora over the last decade. Authorities reach out
supporting diaspora folk with passport renewals. Going by media reports, there
are also efforts underway to enable eligible Tanzanian diaspora voters participate
at future elections (see: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/23/c_138083780.htm).
Researching the topic it quickly came up that Kenyan
neighbours are well ahead in financial remittance inflows and their dual
citizenship policies support reinforce inflows - that helps exercise the mind.
Laugh-out-loud!
I thought, surely more that can be done by countries such as
my motherland. First, there are growing numbers of African descendants born in
diaspora who are left out. There are many mixed race folk where one parent is
from Africa. There are 2nd and 3rd generation African
descendants now living abroad.
Contemporary diaspora-friendly policies and strategies need
to look beyond passport renewals.
I believe for countries like Tanzania, practical and
strategic ideas can be identified and examined looking at what various
countries around the world do. Each country has its own social, economic and
political interest at heart. Africa is not alone in this; many countries around
the world have grappled with diaspora interests before.
In a globalised integrated world each country thinks through
and strategizes accordingly about ways it structures citizenship, and how it
embeds diaspora considerations. There are many ways that each country manages
to balance the benefits of flexible citizenship for diaspora population
balanced with security interests.
I point out tangible examples from Africa itself, China, Australia,
Italy and the EEU zone. For simplicity I
highlight ideas in dot point.
Principles underlying Diaspora Citizenship
We are more familiar with ideas about national borders, and our
rights to play part in economic, social and political life as citizens. We also
have some awareness about rights and benefits that can be given to those who
live amongst us such as permanent residents, temporary residents, skilled workforce/
expatriates, etc.
UNESCO’s description of citizenship is more helpful in
enlightening any country wishing to pay serious regard to mutual interests
involving their diaspora communities. To quote UNESCO:
Over the last decades, issues of
citizenship have been seen…as the legal and political expression of
nationality. A citizen has come to denote "a
national with voting and passport rights". This has sometimes had the
effect of reducing questions concerning citizenship to their legal minimum,
i.e. matters of nationality. At the same time, migration and intermarriage
undermine the traditional one-person/one state situation, so that many people
are born with dual citizenship now. Though some states have suppressed the
possibility of dual citizenship, citizenship laws in general are often being
relaxed or disregarded.
There are two principles individually or in interaction as
the basis for which countries grapple with how they structure diaspora citizenship
rights. UNESCO defines these notions as:
·
“jus sanguinis,
the principle of blood, descent and heritage play a pivotal role in defining
who is, and can become, a citizen. Where people were born is not as important
as if and how they can trace their ancestry back to the origin country”
·
“jus solis, defines citizens as those born within the country,
regardless of the citizenship of the parents”.
African Diaspora Citizenship - Advances
Already over half of African countries have adopted dual
citizenship laws meaning their diaspora now largely “retain home country
rights” (Whitaker, 2011). That is 30 countries out of 54 have taken account of globalising
trends and ensured their citizenship structures leverages this.
Whitaker identifies measures implemented by various African
governments:
The way individual
countries balance concerns about diaspora rights on one hand and perceptions of
security is interesting. Take Nigeria which has no problem allowing its dual
nationals to hold public office, Ghana has spells out particular public roles
to which dual citizens are excluded as illustrated below. All things
considered, the rights enjoyed by the Ghanaian diaspora are still substantial.
Ghanaian
Dual Citizenship - Extracts
The
Citizenship Act (Act 591 of 2000) provides, among others, that, "A citizen
of Ghana who acquires the citizenship of another country in addition to his
Ghanaian citizenship shall notify in writing the acquisition of the additional
citizenship to the Minister in such form and in such manner as may be
prescribed."
Benefits
Dual citizenship policy is argued to create the following
benefits.
·
It provides the individual the right to obtain passports from
either country of citizenship.
·
It creates simpler procedure for individuals revisiting former
homelands for extended periods of time.
·
It creates the opportunity to pursue employment opportunities in
either country of nationality.
·
It improves the right to social benefits, to own land or
property and to inherit assets from either country.
·
It creates the entitlement to convey nationality rights to
offspring.
·
It caters for those who feel equal alliance to both countries of
origin
Holders of dual citizenship cannot hold certain
specified offices in Ghana, including the following:
·
Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court
·
Ambassador/High Commissioner
·
Secretary to the Cabinet
·
Chief of Defence Staff
·
Inspector-General of Police
·
Commissioner of Customs, Excise and Preventive Service
·
Commissioner, Value Added Tax Service
·
Director of Immigration Service
·
Director-General, Prisons Service
·
Chief Fire Officer
·
Chief Director of a Ministry
·
Rank of Colonel in the Army or equivalent in other security services
·
Any other public office that the Minister may prescribe by Legislative
Instrument
Remittances – Sneak Peek
Since I mentioned remittances earlier, here is a sneak peek
of the diaspora financial inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa below. For the inflows-minded,
the figures may also arouse your interest as we talk of diaspora-friendly
policies and strategies later.
Remittances to Sub-Saharan
Africa
Remittances
to Sub-Saharan Africa accelerated
11.4% to $38 billion in 2017…The largest remittance recipients were Nigeria
($21.9 billion), Senegal ($2.2 billion), and Ghana ($2.2 billion). The region
is host to several countries where remittances are a significant share of gross
domestic product, including Liberia (27 per cent), The Gambia (21%), and
Comoros (21%). In 2018, remittances to the region are expected to grow 7% to
$41 billion.
Kenya
& Tanzania Remittance Inflows
Kenya Annual Remittance Inflow
2017
- $ 1.811billion
2016
- $ 1.739billion
Remittances
as % of GDP for 2017: 2.4%
Tanzania Annual Remittance Inflow
2017
- $ 433million
2016
- $ 411million
Remittances
as % of GDP for 2017: 0.8%
It is my hope that the dot points
I provide below are understood as both strategies that extend rights to
diaspora populations, and also these ideas are also about running modern
economies supported by flexible and skilled labour force in this globalised
world. There are many positive lessons to draw from.
Kenya’s Dual
Citizenship
- Kenya
legally approved dual citizenship in 2011, a change enshrined in the new
constitution
- Kenya
legally approved dual citizenship in 2011, a change enshrined in the new
constitution
- If
one of your parents is Kenyan you are automatically regarded as Kenyan by birth
even if born in another country
- Kenyan
dual citizens no longer require a visa when they enter Kenya regardless of the passport
used for entry
- Source: http://www.kenyaembassyspain.es/diaspora-citizen-registration/
- Kenyan
citizens are now also eligible to vote even if residing oversea
Source:
https://www.awmagazine.org/the-letter-kenyans-in-diaspora-ignored-in-2012-addressing-current-dual-citizenship-concerns/
Australia
The Australian Government highlights
the following about its citizenship:
- “Many Australians are citizens of
2 or more countries”
- Australia permits its citizens to
hold an Australian passport and a passport of a foreign country where eligible
- If your parent lost the Australian
citizenship, as a person descended from a former Australian citizen, you can
still acquire an Australian citizenship
It is also common knowledge that
- Australian citizenship may improve
chances of accessing government jobs.
- Australian dual citizens when in
need can access the social security system and public hospitals,
Medicare-funded doctor services, pathology and imaging tests, and prescribed
medicines under the Pharmaceutical
Benefits Scheme
- Australia largely relies on selective
skilled migration to maintain desired population levels (net growth from child
birth is lower compared to net migration).
Also, note that:
- New Zealand citizens are allowed
to enter Australia “to visit, study, stay and work as long as you remain a New
Zealand citizen” under a special visa classification 444 granted on arrival.
The only restriction applies to those with serious criminal convictions or
health issues such as untreated active TB.
- New Zealand citizens are also
eligible to apply for permanent residency which makes them eligible for some government benefits
- Australia also facilitates a
Pacific Labour Scheme allowing workers to enter Australia and take up low and
semi-skilled jobs. This includes applicants from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua
New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Income generated through this scheme is “life changing”. It enables workers to
“pay for their kids’ education,
start a small business or build a house”.
Sources:
Gleaning through the Australian
model may give you an idea about ways that a country embeds flexibility about
who it wishes to enter the country and participate in economic activities for the
mutual benefit of all sides. Info below quoted verbatim from government source:
Working in Australia
If you want to come
to Australia to work you will need a visa that suits the work you intend to do.
We have work visas
for:
·
skilled workers
·
people participating in specific activities
·
working holiday makers
·
highly specialised workers
·
trainees, short term
·
experienced business people
·
investors
·
Australia's offshore oil and gas industry
If you need a sponsor to be eligible for the grant of a work visa
you can find a sponsor yourself, or you can put in an expression of interest
using SkillSelect.
More info on these sites:
China & the Chinese Diaspora
I googled these points from the South China Morning Post:
- Foreigners of Chinese origin now are permitted to
a visa that allows them “to stay in China for five years or enter the country
multiple times over that period”
- This five-year visa is
permitted to Chinese citizens who hold foreign citizenship and their
descendants.
- Also, this five-year visa is
permitted to those with one or two
parents that are ethnically Chinese, or grandparents or ancestor who was once upon a time was a Chinese citizen
in any past generations.
- Before, ethnic Chinese outside China were only
eligible for a “one-year multiple-entry visa”
- For the Chinese authorities, this is one way of
enabling the Chinese diaspora to
“participate in China’s economic development”
Italian Citizenship
Italian citizenship is determined by “right of blood” (Jus sanguinis in
Latin)
- It
means regardless where you were born whether in Italy or overseas, you have the
right to Italian citizenship if one or both of your parents are citizens of
Italy
- Also
in principle it recognises citizenship rights
of people whose past ancestors descended from Italy. It embraces the “Right to Return” as per Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. [For more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_return]
- Italian citizenship “By
birth in Italy to stateless parents, to unknown parents, or to parents who
cannot transmit their nationality to their children”
- Italian
citizenship is automatically acquired through marriage to an Italian national
- Analysts
say in practice, not every ethnic Italian in diaspora exercise these rights to
massive Italian descendants in diaspora whose numbers exceed people in Italy.
- But
here is a point of interest: the Italian diaspora citizenship right has enabled
many ethnic Italians from Latin America to migrate to EU countries like Spain
by virtue of their Italian ancestry.
EU Citizenship
In
addition to country-specific citizenship rights, nationals of EU countries have
a:
- Choice to
move around and live anywhere in the EU zone
- Choice to
work anywhere in the EU zone
- “EU citizens are also free to trade and transport goods,
services and capital through EU borders, as in a national market, with no
restrictions on capital movements or fees” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:l33152
- Nationals of non-EU countries
of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein (European Economic Area – EEA)
have a “right of free movement and residence across the European
Economic Area, as long as they are not an undue burden on the country of
residence and have comprehensive health insurance…This right also extends to [their]
close family members that are not EEA citizens”
- These EEA (non-EU) nationals become permanent
residents after five years of living in the EU zone
Source:
Some Key Points
- The idea of ‘right
of blood’ allows a broader capture of diaspora populations such as descendants,
etc.
- A focus on who holds
a currently renewed passport significantly limits understanding the numbers of
African populations living in diaspora
- Broadening the
definition of who is defined as an African in diaspora is also likely to help
increase remittance inflows and economic activity by diaspora populations because
increased rights increases confidence in undertaking economic activity.
- Draw lessons from
African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana that seem strategically
positioned to attract greater diaspora financial remittances – that is, their
citizenship frameworks align with remittance objective
- Observe ways that
many Western countries including Australia leverages labour migration globally, regionally, and they structures
citizenship rights and those of permanent and temporary persons alongside
economic objectives
- Observe the flexible
labour movement (working people) between countries such as Australia and New
Zealand
- EU citizens are also
free to trade and transport goods, services and capital through EU borders
- Observe the flexible
labour movement involving the EU and non-EU countries of Iceland,
Norway, Switzerland, etc.
- For the
international development minded, take a
look at the Australia’s regional arrangements with Pacific nations and
Timor-Leste allowing citizens of the Pacific Islands to work in Australia for
up to three years supporting improve economic security
- The revised Chinese
approach is also instructive in that ethnic Chinese and descendants from
foreign lands are enabled enter the country and stay for five years to pursue
their economic interest as part of developing China.
- The Ethiopian Origin ID Card valid for five years is also
interesting in that it targets Ethiopians who have taken up foreign
citizenship. Presumably the Ethiopian diaspora to pursue economic and social activities
in Ethiopia without constraints
- Central to most of those embracing either dual citizenship or
some of diaspora rights, is the idea that the environment is created to ensure
people move freely, pursue economic activities, deliver services and move capital
- Recognise importance
of future global networks and skills from 2nd and 3rd
Generation descendants
- Note that study and
skilled migration is set to continue to produce children of mixed parentage.
It is my hope that these
points are understood as both strategies that extend rights to diaspora
populations, and also these ideas are connected to participating in modern
economies in this globalised world. There is much that can be drawn upon, adapted
or adopted.
Other relevant info link sites:
Readers may also be
interested in looking at some of the news and scholarly sites below.
Beth Elise Whitaker,
The Politics of Home: Dual Citizenship and the African Diaspora. The International
Migration Review. Vol. 45, No. 4 (Winter 2011), pp. 755-783
