Bangladeshi Government Removes Gender Discrimination from Citizenship Act - More Progressive than Canadian Government


BdSTDhaka, March 3 (bdnews24.com) – Parliament passed Tuesday an amended law that will automatically give the foreign children having Bangladeshi mothers and foreign fathers Bangladeshi citizenships.

Home minister Shahara Khatun urged the House to pass "The Citizens (Amendment) Act, 2009" she had tabled on Feb. 19 and it was passed by voice vote.

"The bill would remove gender discrimination which was there in The Citizenship Act, 1951," Khatun told parliament before its passage.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance, 2008 made by the military-installed caretaker government headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed stands cancelled with the passage of the new law.
Earlier, children of Bangladeshi fathers and foreign mothers used to get citizenship, but not those of Bangladeshi women and foreign fathers.

The bill is one of the 54 ordinances, made by the caretaker government, which the parliament's special committee recommended to ratify.

The government took the move to amend the original act as growing numbers of Bangladeshi women are marrying foreigners.

Shahara also tabled Sylhet Metropolitan City Police and Barisal Metropolitan City Police bills for the creation of two separate police forces for the two newly created metropolises.

Local government minister Syed Ahsraful Islam placed Local Government (city corporation) bill and Local Government (pourasabha) bill in parliament.

All the bills were sent to parliamentary standing committees on the relevant ministries.

Source: BD NEws Bangladesh's First Online Newspaper

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