The criteria upon which the Lebanese citizenship is granted constitutes the basis of an old political/religious debate with each party approaching the subject from its different standpoint.

As a result, no modern law for naturalization was available and granting citizenship was restricted to a number of people, varying with the different presidential administrations in power, until the famous naturalization decree of 1994. However, the Lebanese residents of Wadi Khaled and the seven villages were unconstitutionally denied the citizenship.

Information International conducted a survey and opinion poll to gauge the Lebanese public’s opinion of this decree in light of the eight years passed since it was issued. The sample covered 1,350 respondents proportionately across the different districts, with a gender distribution of 64.2% males and 35.8% females.

Announcing the naturalization decree

In the parliamentary session of June 21, 1994, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri surprised the public when he began his speech with the following: “I will start my speech by discussing a step that has been awaited for by thousands of Lebanese deprived from their citizenship and I declare in front of you, that the President of the Republic, the Minister of the Interior and I have signed a naturalization decree for all those who deserve it. I would like to praise this courageous national decision undertaken by His Excellency President Hrawi and by the efforts of the Interior Minister, along with all the related staff, in order for thousands of citizens to receive their right of holding their nation’s citizenship after a long and complicated journey of suffering that only they can identify.”

Birth of the naturalization decree

In a special issue of the Official Gazette, Decree No. 5247 was launched, dated June 30, 1994, and composed of 1,279 pages including the names of those naturalized. The enumeration of the individuals and families who received their citizenship was random and devoid of any classification (i.e. alphabetical order, by area, etc.).
Many of those naturalized received the citizenship for themselves and their families, but without records or documentation noting the number of family members or their names. These omissions have made it almost impossible to confirm the real number of individuals naturalized, with estimates ranging between 150,000 to 350,000 people.

The decree’s blunders

Numerous oversights and errors were discussed in the media following the decree’s issuance. Among the concerns were the naturalization of the following:

• Convicts serving a prison sentence at the time
• Individuals not registered in an area of origin and who never resided in Lebanon
• Palestinians governed by a law calling for their right of return
• Political refugees whose status was questionable
• Only certain members of a family, rather than the whole
• Unrecorded numbers and names of family members
• Those who did not fulfill the minimum legal requirements and paid bribes

Naturalization fees

The government prepared a 1994 law project to modify naturalization fees, as the ones adopted were those specified by the 1947 budget law, as follows.

On presentation of the application:
• Adults: 2500 piastres
• Minors: 1500 piastres

On issuance of the citizenship:
• Adults: 5000 piastres
• Minors: 2500 piastres

The new law specified the fees as follows:

On presentation of the application:
• Adults: LL 50,000
• Minors: LL 25,000
On issuance of the citizenship:
• Adults: LL 2 million
• Minors: LL 500,000

This project law was again amended, maintaining the fees for presenting an application, but decreasing those of issuance to LL 100,000 per adult and LL 25,000 per minor.
Another issue raised was defining the difference between those individuals naturalized for the first time, as opposed to others who were regaining their citizenship, such as the majority of the Lebanese residents of Wadi Khaled and seven other villages.

Lebanese public opinion

Public awareness of the existence of a naturalization decree was measured, with the results illustrated in Graph 1. When asked about the number of naturalized by this decree, 58.9% replied that they were not aware of the number, compared to 41.1% who said they knew it.
When asked to specify a figure, responses varied from 300,000 or more (47.9% of respondents); 200,000 (32.6%); 150,000 (10.4%); and 100,000 (9.1%).

Attitudes toward the decree were polled, with 75.5% of respondents noting their opposition to the decree, while 24% supported it and 0.5% did not specify (Graph 2). The basis for the public’s support or opposition is illustrated in Graphs 3 and 4. In the distribution of results according to religion, 37.1% of the supporters were Shiites, 27.1% Sunnites, 26.7% Catholic, 16.7% Orthodox, 13.3% Maronite and 4.6% Druze.

As to the percentages of the opponents, they were as follows: 86% Maronite, 83.3% Orthodox, 73.3% Catholic, 72% Sunni, 62.9% Shiite, 93.8% Druze.

Attitudes toward revoking the citizenship of naturalized individuals was raised, with 45.7% of respondents backing it if those naturalized do not meet the legal requirements; 29.2 % believe in revoking it from all naturalized persons; 6.5% from those who are not married to a Lebanese citizen; 5.8% from those not residing in Lebanon and12.8% did not specify an answer.

Therefore, the results indicate that 66.7% of respondents support the effort of a number of deputies and NGOs to repeal the naturalization decree, while 30% oppose it and 3.3% replied “I don’t know”.

Views toward registering naturalized individuals in specific areas were met with a majority (64.3%) who preferred to restrict registration to the original place of residence. Other views included 20.2% who believed it should be anywhere the naturalized individuals would like, 3.8% for registering them at locations other than their original place of residence, 2.7% for pre-assigned mohafazas, and 9% who did not know.

The issue of the naturalization of Palestinians was met with the majority of respondents opposed to such a move (93.9%), a limited 5% who supported it and 1.1% who did not specify an answer. A consensus was detected across the various Lebanese sects on this matter.

Contrary to the prevailing view in Lebanon, competition from foreign labor was reported by 39.3% of respondents, compared to 60.7% who said they did not face any. As to the identity of the competitors, they were described as follows: 77.5% from Arab nations, 4% from other states, and 18.5% non-specified.

On a different issue, the number of foreigners residing in Lebanon was estimated by 50.4% of respondents at over one million, while 28.7% estimated around 700,000; 12.5% at 500,000; 4.3% at 300,000; and 4.1% did not specify an answer.

The effects of the naturalization decree on Lebanon were perceived by 57.3% of the respondents to have a negative impact on the country, 29.5% a positive impact, and 13.2% did not specify.