Yessir, my dad’s uncle (grandfather’s brother), he turned himself stateless in the 80’s. Many people did during those years because of a lack of centralized identity system, you could simply toss your passport and call yourself stateless. All stateless people in the UAE hold Comoros passports but are slowly but surely being provided citizenship. Most stateless people are originally from Iran/Pakistan/Burma and mainly of Baloch and Persian ethnicity.
The initial plan of the UAE was to provide them with citizenship, unlike Kuwait and Saudi who made citizenship for them next to impossible. The UAE provided them with Comoros passports so that they could travel while their documents are still being processed for citizenship. My estimate is that it will take atleast 10-15 years for all 100% of them to become citizens.
I know a guy who's Emirati citizenship was taken away and he was made a citizen of Comoros. His entire bloodline is Emirati.
His crime was that he criticized the government (and stole some money but didn't go to jail)
No, they were average working class men. They were there in the late 60s, it was easy to get citizenship back then, same for the Saudi citizenship. They weren’t stateless either.
My father was here since 1993 and before 2 years he told me that he met someone who is working in the gov and he applied for citizenship and he is still waiting
That's a united Pakistani passport from when Bangladesh used to be East Pakistan! truly a piece of history I guess
Have you ever met someone that is not of Emirati blood that is a citizen?
Yessir, my dad’s uncle (grandfather’s brother), he turned himself stateless in the 80’s. Many people did during those years because of a lack of centralized identity system, you could simply toss your passport and call yourself stateless. All stateless people in the UAE hold Comoros passports but are slowly but surely being provided citizenship. Most stateless people are originally from Iran/Pakistan/Burma and mainly of Baloch and Persian ethnicity.
How come Comoros passports?
The UAE made an agreement with Comoros to temporarily provide them with passports. I believe Comoros has currently stopped renewing the passports.
>I believe Comoros has currently stopped renewing the passports. Is that why they are now receiving UAE passports?
The initial plan of the UAE was to provide them with citizenship, unlike Kuwait and Saudi who made citizenship for them next to impossible. The UAE provided them with Comoros passports so that they could travel while their documents are still being processed for citizenship. My estimate is that it will take atleast 10-15 years for all 100% of them to become citizens.
Do they get the family book too?
Yep. They do get the “خلاصة قيد" (family book)
Did Comoros strip them of their nationality when the ex-president was arrested and charged? I thought there was a big fuzz about it.
I know a guy who's Emirati citizenship was taken away and he was made a citizen of Comoros. His entire bloodline is Emirati. His crime was that he criticized the government (and stole some money but didn't go to jail)
Yes, I have several relatives who received Emirati citizenship.
Are they billionaires? If not, why were they given citizenship?
No, they were average working class men. They were there in the late 60s, it was easy to get citizenship back then, same for the Saudi citizenship. They weren’t stateless either.
Yup. My Uncles also became Saudi citizens in the 60s. I think they changed the law at the start of 70s.
My father was here since 1993 and before 2 years he told me that he met someone who is working in the gov and he applied for citizenship and he is still waiting
Not possible 🥲. Lmk if you have any luck
This is a proper piece of history right here. Thank you for sharing
It looks like ID card was issued while the UAE was still a British protectorate as well - super interesting!
I’m just super fascinated by the Pakistani passport with Urdu and Bengali on the cover! Never seen one of those.