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.
***
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.
***
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.
