LDE's Expat Citizenship Decree Misses the Point: Citizenship without Rights Is Worthless

Recently the Lebanese Diaspora Energy event was held in Lebanon under the auspices of the President of the Republic. During the event, Lebanon’s President and Prime Minister signed a decree allowing Expats to “retain” their Lebanese citizenship.

While initiatives to engage Lebanese expats are generally welcome and in some circles seen as badly needed, considering the state of the nation, the likely results are not clear. In the very least, this decree raises some key questions:

First, it is unclear what the purpose of the decree really is. After all, there has been a law on the books since 1925 (Decree #15) to allow Lebanese descendants born outside of Lebanese territories to get their citizenship, if they could prove paternal linkage (not maternal unfortunately). So how is this decree any different, except for some slightly added expediency?

Second, how would such a law serve the expats if they do not plan on living, working, or retiring in Lebanon? After all, the vast majority of Lebanese expats worldwide will unlikely return, nor can the nation really afford them to—since according to the World Bank, on a per capita basis they make six folds what their homeland compatriots make, repatriating more than 20% of the country’s GDP.

Third, in certain countries, including some significant ones in Europe, dual citizenship is not allowed. What incentive would Lebanese expats, let alone their descendants, have in acquiring the Lebanese citizenship at the expense of a much more valuable citizenship that costs them much less. For instance, the German passport allows its holders to travel visa-free to more than 176 countries worldwide and barely costs 80 Euros for 10 years. The Lebanese passport gives access to 32 countries and costs 200 Euros for 5 years. Meaning, the privilege of having a Lebanese passport costs its holder a whopping TWENTY-FIVE times the German passport not counting the cost of visas!

Fourth, if voting is the purpose of retaining the Lebanese citizenship, how many Lebanese are likely to be interested in Lebanese sectarian politics, given the very little change that it causes and the highly fractious state of the nation. Personally, I left Lebanon in the late 1980’s, and the same exact political leaders--to the man—are still in power even though the country has gone through crisis after another. Is it a wonder that of the millions of Lebanese expats less than 10,000 actually registered overseas to vote in the last parliamentary elections held in 2008?

And last but certainly not least, why would any Lebanese expat who has acquired full rights in his adopted land ask for a citizenship that may take it away from them and their families? My Lebanese sister’s children could have become American citizens, but never Lebanese, because she had a non-Lebanese husband. My friend’s children cannot inherit in Lebanon, nor can their mother because the mother is non-Lebanese and from a different religion; but they would inherit in Europe without a problem. My own son can run for any public sector job in the United States or Colombia, including for President if he wishes to, but not in Lebanon because of the sectarian constitution. Most of us expats across the world have rights to clean air, pure water, and electricity—none of which Lebanon assures. We have a right to peace and quiet in green parks, public beaches, and a clean environment. Can Lebanon offer any of this? By law, we have access to public libraries to assure fair knowledge transfer. Lebanon has yet to open its doors to the public to its national library in Sanayeh since 2014, even though its built and ready. Instead its entrance is shamefully sealed with 10 foot concrete walls. Where expats immigrated generally provides a fair economic safety net and healthcare in case things go wrong. Can a retained Lebanese citizenship provide this, knowing the state of the bankrupt Social Security fund? And finally, we have equal rights in front of the law with any other citizen from any other background, regardless of creed, color, or economic background. Can Lebanon guarantee this?

The government’s attempt to engage with Lebanese expats through LDE, its foreign delegations, and this citizenship decree while perhaps well-intentioned appears to miss the point. We expats all left Lebanon because Lebanon did not offer us the rights and opportunities we aspire. In this day and age of globalization and border-less connectivity, brandishing the right of citizenship that offers no rights is worthless. Unfortunately, signing decrees that give Expats rights they have had for a century but walked away from is the wrong way of looking at the problem. Rather, giving ALL the Lebanese (including Expats) ALL the rights that we Expats enjoy may be a smarter way.

Lebanon has to learn to compete harder on a global level if it sincerely wants to get its Expats back. For only then could Lebanon ever hope to rise to a level beyond the tenuous emotional attachment and get its Expats around the globe to be truly interested. Harsh reality perhaps, but unfortunately anything less will prove to be little more than a photo op and yet another wasted opportunity for Lebanon to benefit from the Lebanese Diaspora’s true Energy potential.