France and Germany Release Plans for Dual Citizenship
On Wednesday, French and German officials met in Versailles for their first joint session of parliament and unveiled a proposal for dual citizenship. The proposal will allow citizens in each country to hold passports in both lands, and also would allow French and German citizens to vote in each other's national elections. Also on the agenda was the appointment of representatives from each country to coordinate bilateral policy, discussion of harmonizing laws and plans to hold joint cabinet meetings. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac promised more cooperation on foreign policy and said they would seek to adopt common positions on international issues, including immigration and asylum.
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Deportee Escape An Embarrassment in Canada
A group of protestors roughed up an immigration official at Vancouver International Airport Tuesday and escaped with a woman being deported to Iran, Canadian newspapers report. Apparently, Kobra Nateghi was on an Air Canada flight with her 22-year-old son, Hassan Esmet, and another adult male, when Esmet became agitated and caused the pilot to order the plane cleared. The immigration commissionaire was unable to keep Nateghi from escaping, as her supporters yelled for her to run. She turned herself in to police later Tuesday night. Citizenship and Immigration spokeswoman Janice Ferguson said that authorities would be reviewing the case to see if any changes should be made in the way deportations are handled.
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Japan Considers Possible Flood of North Korean Asylum Seekers
Japan is readying itself for a possible flood of refugees from North Korea, as more people flee to China to seek asylum in Japan. The government is working on a plan that will minimize the number of refugees it grants permission to live in Japan, bracing for a deluge of North Korean asylum-seekers. So far, Japan has adopted a policy of asking the Chinese government to hand over detainees from North Korea if Japanese citizenship has been verified, but the government has yet to decide whether to accept non-Japanese refugees from North Korea who have been assisted by nongovernmental organizations.
