Draft law fails to clarify issue of dual citizenship
The Sejm is to vote this week on a new citizenship law that would return Polish passports to Poles stripped of their citizenship rights under communism. But the issue of dual citizenship rights for Poles living abroad will continue to remain unclear.
The Polish American Congress, the biggest international Polish organization, recently sent a letter to Ryszard Czarnecki, the chairman of the Sejm commission on communication with Polish emigres protesting the law.
"Poles would like to have the same rights no matter where they live," said Marek Szczerbinski, general secretary of the Bydgoszcz-based Council for Research on Poles Abroad.
The new legislation would replace a law dating from 1962 that allowed communist authorities to strip Poles of citizenship for political reasons, said Slawomir Gola, head of the press office at the Internal Affairs Ministry. After numerous changes to the law in the 10 years since the fall of communism, the Senate presented a proposal for a new law to the Sejm in 1999.
While considering the terms of the revised law, the issue of dual citizenship has become a contentious issue between the Sejm and the Senate. While the Senate proposes that the new law clearly state that Poles should be able to hold two passports, the Sejm is avoiding a stand on the issue. Instead, it will probably try to include an ambiguous statement about dual citizenship, said Wit Majewski, the deputy chairman of the Sejm commission of communication with Polish emigres. Janina Sagatowska, chairwoman of the Senate committee for emigration and Poles abroad agreed that the Sejm would most likely fudge the issue.
Majewski said that the old law didn't allow for dual citizenship, but holding two passports was tolerated by officials, especially during the first few years after the fall of communism.
According to Majewski, Sejm MPs aren't interested in making the law clear on dual citizenship as doing so would go against the Polish constitution. He said many MPs are worried that Poles with dual citizenship would exploit the advantages of having two passports.
Everybody has to obey the laws of the country whose territory he's standing on, no matter whether he's a citizen or not, Sagatowska said.
"The law should be clear," she added.
If the Sejm has its way and includes a vague statement in the pending law about dual citizenship rights, then Poles living abroad could continue to have problems with immigration officials when traveling to and from Poland.
This summer, all Polish border terminals were fitted out with new computer systems and customs officers were able to enforce the 1962 law, Sagatowska said. When a person showed a U.S. passport and the computer revealed that he also held a Polish passport, he sometimes wasn't allowed in or out of the country, she said.
Jerzy Konrad, a freelance photographer who holds both Polish and U.S. citizenship, was one of the victims of the law. When he tried to leave for the United States, customs officers at the Okecie airport told him "no."
"I prolonged my stay for two more days," Konrad said. During his second attempt at the airport, he pretended he was American. "I pretended I spoke no Polish at all," he said. Konrad was then able to board his plane, as customs officers weren't able to check his personal data. "The computer was broken that day," he said.
