Nermin Aydemir JTW Columnist printable version send your friend message to author add comment ()

Friday, 9 January 2009

Jan Peter Balkenede has formally established his fourth cabinet on 22 February 2007. Although the relatively smooth cabinet formation seems to relieve the Dutch, an uneasy debate over dual citizenship has been troubling the new government since the formation process.

Ultranationalist party leader, Geert Wilders, started a debate on the reliability of cabinet members with two nationalities when Mr. Balkenende announced their names on the cabinet list. Nebahat Albayrak and Ahmed Aboutaleb, both from the labor party and both with dual citizenships, take place in the new cabinet. Mrs. Albayrak is a Turkish-Dutch and appointed as the state secretary for justice.  She is responsible for immigration policy for the next four years. Mr. Aboutaleb owns the Morocco citizenship as his second one and is the new state secretary for social affairs and employment.

Wilder’s party for freedom and democracy (PVV) has doubts on the loyalty of these two government officials. According to Mr. Wilders, having citizenship ties with another state undermines the loyalty to the Netherlands. PVV motion, questioning the trustworthiness of these two names, is rejected due to out of rule. [1] Yet, the extremist rightist politician managed starting a severe discussion on the issue.

Mr. Wilders regards the presence of Mrs. Albayrak and Mr. Aboutaleb a kind of invasion by foreign states. He goes one-step further on his web log and links this “invasion” with Islam. According to Mr. Wilders, not only Turkey and Morocco, but also Islam penetrated the very core of the Dutch state.

Party Positions:

Though not supporting the motion, the liberal party leader, Mark Rutte, is not a warm advocate of the idea of dual nationality at all. Still, he had troubles in giving response to the green left leader, Femke Halsema’s harsh critics. Mrs. Halsema blamed the liberal party leader on being contradictory on the issue. Indeed, the liberal party does not refrain from placing candidates with dual citizenships on election lists (particularly in local ones).

The labor party, the biggest among immigrant groups in the country and one of the coalition partners, is known with its highly positive attitude towards the dual citizenship.

PM Balkenende is more apprehensive on the issue than the labor party is. The PM regards dual citizenship as a problematic issue, which has to be dealt carefully. Nevertheless, Mr. Balkenende finds the tone of the debate not very acceptable and invites parties to a more proper discussion.

The Labor party condemns the socialist party leader Jan Marijnissen for being “shamelessly” opportunistic. The socialist party leader mentioned that it would be better if people would choose for the Dutch passport despite passionately supporting dual citizenship during the local elections last month. [2]

Albayrak and Aboutaleb Under Pressure:

Both Albayrak and Aboutaleb have been under significant pressure to show their loyalty to the Dutch state by leaving their second passports. It is not possible for Mr. Aboutaleb to leave his Moroccan citizenship since the Moroccan laws do not permit it. The Turkish law system is not that strict and it is in principle possible for Mrs. Albayrak to leave her Turkish nationality and go on her career with a single citizenship. Mrs. Albayrak said she will never give her Turkish passport over and underlined she had not done anything against the laws. Besides, her party stressed they would not accept if Mrs. Albayrak leaves her Turkish citizenship.

Sociological Facts:

In fact, Mr. Wilders makes a point. Nevertheless, most of the politicians seem to be far from having a sophisticated understanding of the issue. It is true that the dual citizenship challenges one of the most fundamental assumptions of the modern era. However, does the nation-state really constitute the highest institution and the largest group of people to which and individual can affirm devotion in today’s world?[3] Many have serious doubts about it.

In today’s highly globalizing world, multicultural societies are no more the exception but increasingly become the rule. Integrating to the new life has already become a significant issue on the top political agenda. Policies, trying to cut all the ties of these immigrant/ethnic minority groups with their countries of origin, have given way to nothing but complete fiascos. Adapting a second culture is a quite complex process with lots of difficulties. Having the feeling of betraying one’s “own” culture is usually the case and considerably hinders adaptation. Moreover, loosing contact with culture of origin creates the feeling of disorientation in many circumstances.

Concluding Remarks:

An individual might have a smoother process in acquiring and maintaining competency in both cultures if he/she maintains active and effective relationships with both of these cultures. As Lafromboise, Coleman, and Gerton indicate in their studies, the key to psychological well-being may well be the ability to develop and maintain competence with both cultures (Lafromboise, Coleman, and Gerton, 1993)[4].

The best answer seems to come from a military official, Jan Kleian. Muslim soldiers, fighting in Uruzgan, show much more loyalty to the Dutch state than Mr. Wilders ever can do.[5]