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| Europe |
| Ayaan Hirsi Ali seeks French citizenship |
| 2008-02-11 |
| Former Dutch lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the target of death threats over her criticism of radical Islam, said she has asked France to grant her citizenship because she cannot be assured of protection back home. "I would be very honored and grateful if I were to become a French citizen, and the question of my protection could be resolved once and for all," Somali-born Hirsi Ali said Sunday on France-2 television. "I live under protection now, but it's a protection in which I still have to move from place to place, and look for donors to pay for my protection," she said in English, simultaneously translated into French for the program. She said she had chosen France because she received support from French intellectuals and expressions of understanding from French political leaders. Since last October, "I've found myself in the position in which my own government - the government of the Netherlands - has said it doesn't want to pay for my protection," Hirsi Ali said. "The American government said: 'You are a Dutch citizen,' and that it doesn't pay for the protection of foreigners," she said. French Human Rights Minister Rama Yade, also on the France-2 news program, said: "We believe in France that Ayaan Hirsi Ali must be protected," but stopped short of offering citizenship. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 I don't know what the requirements are in France, but in the US she would need to be a permanent resident for a minimum of 5 years, then apply for naturalization. The issue is that there is no legal basis under which the US government could give her 24-7 personal protection for the 5 years + the application period. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-02-11 13:19 |
| #3 B__ No doubt some If, on the otherhand, she were a US citizen, she would be entitled to protection. It's concerning that she didn't apply. It may be she's afraid of who will win the 2009 election or has no confidence in the US. It's embarassing to think someone whose actions and opinions I respect as much as I do hers would think France represents a safer bet. |
| Posted by: Jumbo Fleath3921 2008-02-11 12:56 |
| #2 I need a MOD...I just posted an article that Mansoor Dadullah was just killed in Pakistan in a raid...I think it went off into the ether....can someone help me find it. |
| Posted by: Chenter Unimp7361 2008-02-11 06:52 |
| #1 "The American government said: 'You are a Dutch citizen,' and that it doesn't pay for the protection of foreigners," she said. Not that I doubt her comment, but I'd like to know what "American" in our government made that statement. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-02-11 06:29 |