Reading today's National Post front page got me thinking...the concept of dual, or for that matter, any multiple citizenships, has been taking quite the beating lately.
In the interest of disclosure, I am a dual citizen, both of which are acquired by birthright. In my case, I am a Canadian citizen by birth here, and an Irish citizen by inheritance (Ireland recognizes inheritance of citizenship back as far as a great-grandparent in some circumstances, and to a grandparent with little effort).
Essentially, my understanding of international law on the matter is that, I am entitled to consular services of either Canada or Ireland, except when I am in one or the other of these countries. In that case, that country is entirely free to treat me as a "domestic", and the other government has no right to interfere in any way...so if I get arrested in Canada, I can't ask to speak to an Irish consular official. If I'm arrested in the US, I have a choice of either Canada or Ireland to talk to!
Taken in the context of the current Lebanese evacuation that occured, how many of the 7,000 that have returned are Lebanese citizens, along with Canadian citizenship? If so, the Canadian government is under no obligation to assist these people. It was a political decision to evac these people, knowing that we were not under any obligation, not a legal one. Let's apply the law properly before we go and change it, shall we?
Thursday, September 21, 2006
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I'm a dual citizen too (born in Canada, father from UK), and I think the Lebanon situation is a little more complicated than that. If it had been the Lebanese government endangering, or arresting, or otherwise dealing with these Lebanese Canadian, THEN there would not only be no obligation, but no legal way for the Canadian government to intervene between the government of Lebanon, and one of her citizens. However, in Lebanon, the Canadian evacuation was not an effort to interfere with the Lebanese government's interaction with Lebanese citizens, it was an effort to save Canadians in Lebanon (regardless of dual status) from the action of third parties (Israel and Hezbollah).
I agree that if you are arrested in Ireland (or myself in the UK) or if the government of Ireland wanted to deal with you in some way, any way (compulsary military service, taxes, etc... etc...) as an Irish citizen in Ireland, you would have no recourse to assistance from the Canadian government to protect you from the Irish government.
But, say you're in Ireland (maybe even living there permanently) and Martians attack Ireland (leave aside why the Martians are attacking Ireland and not Canada, Canada's a safe haven in this hypothetical). Would you not run to the Canadian embassy with your Canadian passport and ask to be evacuated? Does the Canadian government have no obligation to save you from the Martian invasion of Ireland just because you're also an Irish citizen? What if there's an outbreak of disease while you're in Ireland? A series of devastating earthquakes?
I'm not so sure it's so simple.
I think, in a real emergency, if you have a valid, up-to-date Canadian passport, and you need to be rescued (not from the actions of the government of which you are also a citizen, but from some other force or circumstance (attack by a third party, natural disaster, etc...)) your butt ought to be on the plane, bureaucracy be damned. Whether you're later asked to re-pay the government of Canada for the service (I say no, if you're a toursit visiting a country you're a citizen of; maybe, if you've become a permanent resident of that country) is a different matter.
Canada can't save you from the government of a country whose citizenship you hold. I'm not sure that means Canada shouldn't save you from circumstances in the country whose citizenship you also hold. It's a complicated issue.
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