Non-citizens (Latvia)

Non-citizens (Latvia)
Latvia

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Non-citizens (Latvian: nepilsoņi) in Latvian law are individuals who are not citizens of Latvia or any other country but, who, in accordance with the Latvian law "Regarding the status of citizens of the former USSR who possess neither Latvian nor other citizenship", have the right to a non-citizen passport issued by the Latvian government as well as other specific rights. These are "citizens of the former USSR (..) who reside in the Republic of Latvia as well as who are in temporary absence and their children who simultaneously comply with the following conditions: 1) on 1 July 1992 they were registered in the territory of Latvia regardless of the status of the living space indicated in the registration of residence, or up to 1 July 1992 their last registered place of residence was in the Republic of Latvia, or it has been determined by a court judgment that they have resided in the territory of Latvia for 10 consecutive years until the referred to date; 2) they are not citizens of Latvia; and 3) they are not and have not been citizens of another state."[1] Children born after Latvia reestablished independence (August 21, 1991) to parents who are both non-citizens are entitled to citizenship upon request of the parents.

While the issue of non-citizens is often equated to the problem of statelessness,[2][3][4][5] other sources consider that the status of non-citizen in both Latvia and Estonia is unique and has not existed previously in international law.[6]

Contents

Demography

As of July 2011, there were 319,267 non-citizens living in Latvia or 14.4% of Latvian residents,[7] down from approximately 715,000 in 1991.[8]

With respect to Latvia's largest ethnic minorities: 34.6% of ethnic Russians are non-citizens, comprising 65.8% of all non-citizens; 55.3% of Belarusians are non-citizens, comprising 13.5% of the total; while 56.3% of Ukrainians are non-citizens, comprising 9.6% of the total.[9] The majority of non-citizens, 62.3%, live in the three biggest cities of country: Riga, Daugavpils and Liepāja, which comprise 39.8% of Latvia's population.[10]

The referendum held in October 1998 eliminated the "windows" system, which limited the age groups allowed to naturalize each year. It also gave the right to children of non-citizens born in Latvia after August 21, 1991 to be registered as citizens without naturalisation[11] barring imprisonment or other citizenship.[12] Parents can request citizenship for their children until age 15, after which a child can make the request on their own behalf from age 15 to 17.

Status

According to the Constitutional Court of Latvia,

15. After the passing of the Non-Citizen Law a new, up to that time unknown category of persons appeared – Latvian non-citizens. Latvian non-citizens cannot be compared with any other status of a physical entity, which has been determined in international legal acts, as the rate of rights, established for non-citizens, which does not comply with any other status. Latvian non-citizens can be regarded neither as citizens, nor aliens or stateless persons but as persons with "a specific legal status" (..) 17. (..) the rights and international liabilities, determined for the non-citizens testify that the legal ties of non-citizens with Latvia are to a certain extent recognized and mutual obligations and rights have been created on the basis of the above[13]
Latvian "Alien's Identity Card", official sample

The Latvian parliament created the category of non-citizen in 1991[14] when it affirmed legal continuity with Latvia's original citizenship laws. Individuals who were citizens of Latvia as of 17 June 1940, prior to Soviet occupation, were once again recognized as citizens, along with their descendants. Individuals migrating to Latvia after that date who were permanent residents and had completed universal primary or secondary education in a Latvian language school were also eligible for citizenship, along with their children up to age 15.[15] That effectively limited non-citizen status to largely Russophones arriving during the Soviet era. Notably this included some of those that had elected the parliament in question.

To deal with the issue of former Soviet citizens without Latvian citizenship, the law On the Status of those Former USSR. Citizens who do not have the Citizenship of Latvia or that of any Other State[16] was adopted in 1995 as a temporary measure pending the resolution of changing citizenship regimes in the now independent former Soviet republics.

The issue of non-citizens has been equated to the problem of statelessness. Non-citizens have been described as stateless by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly[2] and by Amnesty International.[17] Non-citizens are named as an example of problems of statelessness by Commissioner for Human Rights,[4] although conceding that non-citizens may not prefer citizenship for their children,[18] and the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance recommends Latvia "revisit the existing requirements for naturalization with the objective of facilitating the granting of citizenship to non-citizens, implementing the commitments established by the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness."[5] Latvian Ombudsman R. Apsītis considers the "specific legal status" of non-citizens to be questionable from the viewpoint of international law.[19]

By definition in Latvian law, non-citizens are not stateless. While they have rights akin to citizens, for example, the right to reside in Latvia without visas or temporary residence permits, rights in other areas are curtailed. Non-citizens cannot vote,[20] although they can participate to a lesser degree in public policy through NGOs. Pension rights are limited,[21] and non-citizens cannot hold certain positions in local and national government, the civil service, and other governmental entities. Non-citizens are exempt from military service, which was compulsory for male Latvian citizens until 2006. UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination described non-citizens' position as discriminatory in 1999.[22]

With regard to international law, non-citizens are not considered stateless by the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights, which notes:

... in Latvia, non-citizens under the 1995 Law on Status of citizens of the former USSR who are not citizens of Latvia or any other country are neither citizens, nor foreigners, nor stateless persons. A great proportion of the large Russian speaking population of the country falls within this category, unknown in public international law. The same applies to non-citizens in Estonia.[6]

The rights of Latvian non-citizens outside of Latvia are governed strictly by treaty. For example, non-citizens now travel visa-free in the EU under Schengen just as Latvian citizens do; both have access to Latvian consular services abroad. (Russian citizens do not enjoy this privilege.) Outside the EU, numerous countries allow visa-free travel for Latvian citizens but not for non-citizens.[23]

Peter Van Elsuwege, a scholar in European law at Ghent University, states that the Latvian law is grounded upon the established legal principle that persons who settle under the rule of an occupying power gain no automatic right to nationality. A number of historic precedents support this, according to Van Elsuwege, most notably the case of Alsace-Lorraine when the French on recovering the territory in 1918 did not grant citizenship to German settlers despite Germany having annexed the territory 47 years earlier in 1871.[24]

Naturalisation

Non-citizens may naturalize provided that they have been permanent residents of Latvia for at least 5 years, demonstrate Latvian language competency, correctly answer questions regarding Latvia's Constitution and history—including that it was occupied by the Soviet Union (a question debated in Latvian Russian press)[25] and know the words to the Latvian national anthem.[26] Former members of foreign military, people convicted of propagating fascist or communist ideas or inciting ethnic hatred, and individuals considered hostile to the Republic of Latvia cannot be granted citizenship. The government can refuse naturalisation to individuals who have fulfilled requirements if they are found to be disloyal (viz. Juris Petropavlovskis case, declared admissible by the European Court of Human Rights and pending before it as of September 2010[27]).

As of June 30, 2010, 134,039 people have been naturalized, mostly former non-citizens. The naturalization rate reached its height over 2004–2006, peaking in 2005 (19 169 naturalized), and has fallen off substantially since then across all ethnic categories (2080 naturalized in 2009).[28]

A survey conducted and published in 2003 by the Naturalization Board indicated that categories of non-citizen most likely to naturalize were: socially active, from 25 to 50 years, female, completed higher education, employees in local or national government, and anyone living in Riga and its environs. The factors cited as to why people have not pursued citizenship were: the opinion that people deserve citizenship automatically — 34.2%, hoping naturalization will be simplified — 26.2%, travel to the CIS is easier for non-citizens — 26.2%, concerns about passing the Latvian competency test — 23.5%, no particular need — 21.6%, concerns about passing the Latvian history test — 20.5%, cost of fees — 20.2%, not enough time — 18.1%, naturalization is demeaning — 17.9%. Less than 9% indicated a preference for citizenship other than Latvian.[29]

Politics of citizenship

The Popular Front of Latvia supported the notion that long-term residents of Latvia who declare their will to obtain citizenship of Latvia and loyalty to the state should become citizens.[30]

According to SKDS research,[31] in 2005 45.9% of inhabitants (but only 38.4% of citizens) supported granting voting rights for non-citizens at municipal elections, against such amendments were 35.6% of inhabitants (and 42.8% of citizens). 74.6% of Russian-speaking respondents and 24.8% of ethnic Latvian respondents expressed support for this idea, a negative attitude to it was shown by 7.8% of Russian-speaking respondents and 55.9% of ethnic Latvian respondents.

Nowadays, Harmony Centre is[32] for making the naturalization and granting citizenship to some categories of non-citizens. ForHRUL, supporting these steps, is also maintaining[33] the idea of "zero option". On the other side, TB/LNNK calls[34] for a halt to naturalization. Most of the ruling parties support the status quo. LPP and LC claimed in 2007, that they support voting rights for non-citizens in local elections, but offered a referendum on the issue in 2009, to be held at the same time as local elections,[35] and don't support the respective proposals in Parliament now.[36]

The international community expresses slightly different views on the question. So, OSCE mission monitoring the 2006 parliamentary elections mentioned that

“ Approximately 400,000 people in Latvia, some 18 per cent of the total population, had not obtained Latvian or any other citizenship and therefore still had the status of "non-citizens." In the vast majority, those were persons who migrated to Latvia from within the former Soviet Union, and their descendants. Non-citizens do not have the right to vote in any Latvian elections, although they can join political parties. To obtain citizenship, these persons must go through a naturalization process, which over 50,000 persons have done since the 2002 Saeima election. The OSCE claimed that the fact that a significant percentage of the adult population did not hold voting rights represented a continuing democratic deficit.[37] ”

A resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in November 2006 found:

“ The Assembly considers that the naturalisation regulations adopted in Latvia do not raise insuperable obstacles to the acquisition of Latvian nationality and that the applicable procedure does not entail any requirements that are excessive or contrary to existing European standards. However, when it comes to the very specific situation of non-citizens, which is unprecedented and therefore lacks a reference framework of European norms or practices, the Assembly considers that further improvements are possible to avoid unnecessary requirements for the acquisition of Latvian nationality.[38] ”

International recommendations to Latvia, which concern non-citizenship, include:

  • granting voting rights for non-citizens in local elections;[39][40][41]
  • facilitating naturalization;[42][43][44]
  • reducing differences in rights between citizens and non-citizens;[45][46]
  • avoiding asking those applying for naturalization to express convictions that are contrary to their reading of the history of their cultural community or nation.[47]

The Russian Foreign Ministry regularly charges Latvia with serious violations of the rights of its Russophone population, describing non-citizens as "stateless";.[48] In responding to charges of discrimination, Latvian authorities contend there is little practical difference between citizens and non-citizens,[18] the primary ones being that non-citizens cannot vote and that non-citizens are exempt from military service.

The Russian Foreign Office has published a collection[49] of international recommendations to Latvia concerning the minority rights, including those on the non-citizenship issue. Russia itself has allowed most Latvian non-citizens short trips without visas since June, 2008.[50][51] This step was criticized by Latvian MFA,[52] but welcomed by the Secretary-General of CoE T. Davis.[53] Earlier, Latvian citizens were charged more for a Russian single-entry visa than non-citizens (more than five times the fee as of December 2007) seen by T. Malmlof as rewarding if not encouraging statelessness.[54]

Council of Europe

As reported by the European Commissioner for Human Rights 2007 report on Latvia, in 2006 there were 411,054 non-citizens, 66.5% of them belonging to Russian minority (per §30). While applications of children born after August 21, 1991 are reviewed under simplified procedure, "over 13 000 children are still non-citizens, and, children are still being born as non-citizens" (per §37,38). Commissioner has noted that "the exclusion of non-citizens from political life does nothing to encourage their integration" (§43). As reported, "the continued existence of the status of non-citizen" mostly held by representatives of national minorities is "deeply problematic in terms of real or perceived equality and social cohesion" (§29).[55]

The Commissioner conceded that not all non-citizens may wish to gain citizenship status but did not explore this possibility further. His report also contained clarifications provided by the Latvian government in response, including:

  • re §30. As of "2007 there are 386 632 non-citizens in Latvia, less than 17% of the population of Latvia." The report inappropriately conflates Russophones into one minority. Only 28.2% of the population is ethnic Russian and more than half (56.6%) are citizens. Latvia is devoted to strengthening all minorities including ones which suffered under Russification, e.g., Ukrainians and Belarusians.
  • re §43. NGOs and all members of society can participate in policy-making. "Consultative support for national minority NGOs has been ensured.... The Latvian authorities do not consider that granting voting rights at local level to non-citizens in Latvia would strengthen the incentive to naturalise; the contrary is much more likely. In fact, an extensive research project entitled The effect of regional aspects on tackling citizenship issues carried out by the Naturalisation Board revealed that one of the major obstacles for applying for Latvian citizenship is the lack of motivation, including the negligible differences between the rights of citizens and non-citizens. Latvia prefers having many citizens with full rights to having many non-citizens with many rights, at the same time acknowledging that any restrictions must have strong justification and shall be in accordance with international standards. Furthermore, there are no international standards on voting rights to non-citizens and at present it is not a widely accepted practice among the CoE Member States. In Latvia, it is a constitutional matter."[55]

The Commissioner attributed that there are still large numbers of non-citizens, particularly with regard to children, to "lack of commitment" on the part of Latvian authorities, whose response was that Latvia is materially committed to the rights of its minorities, and that from a practical standpoint there is little additional benefit and motivation to become a citizen versus remaining a non-citizen.[55]

See also

References

  1. ^ Section 1, Law "On the Status of those Former U.S.S.R. Citizens who do not have the Citizenship of Latvia or that of any Other State"
  2. ^ a b see para. 16 of the Resolution on national minorities OSCE PA, 2004
  3. ^ Amnesty International 2009 Report
  4. ^ a b No one should have to be stateless in today’s Europe
  5. ^ a b Report on mission to Latvia (2008), UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance — see Para. 30 and 88
  6. ^ a b Synthesis Report: Conclusions and Recommendations on the Situation of Fundamental Rights in the European Union and its Member States in 2003, 4 February 2004, p. 90.
  7. ^ Population of Latvia by nationality; Data of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs(Latvian)
  8. ^ B. Bowring Report of a second mission to the Republic of Latvia on behalf of FIDH and Bar of England and Wales HRC, 1994 — see p. 16
  9. ^ Population of Latvia by ethnicity and nationality; Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs(Latvian)
  10. ^ Population of Latvia by nationality and municipality; Data of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs(Latvian)
  11. ^ EU Enlargement and Latvian Citizenship Policy, retrieved 11 January 2009
  12. ^ Citizenship of children, OCMA website
  13. ^ Judgement of Latvian Constitutional court on losing non-citizen's status
  14. ^ Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia "On the renewal of Republic of Latvia citizens' rights and fundamental principles of naturalization", 15.10.1991.// B. Bowring Report of a second mission to the Republic of Latvia on behalf of FIDH and Bar of England and Wales HRC, 1994 — see Appendix 3, p. 76-78 (p. 37-39 of the .pdf file) (Another link)
  15. ^ Citizenship law - see Section 2, Part 1.3)
  16. ^ Law On the Status of those Former USSR Citizens who do not have the Citizenship of Latvia or that of any Other State, as of 2007 (no amendments made as of 2010 - [1](Latvian))
  17. ^ Amnesty International
  18. ^ a b Memorandum to the Latvian Government (2007) Assessment of the progress made in implementing the 2003 recommendations of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
  19. ^ Opinion of Ombudsman R. Apsītis, 2008 — p. 16(Latvian)
  20. ^ Electoral legislation of Latvia
  21. ^ Judgement of the Constitutional Court in case No.2001-02-0106 (maintaining the limitations)
  22. ^ [ Concluding observations CERD A/54/18 (1999) — Para. 395]
  23. ^ Бузаев В. В. Неграждане Латвии — Рига: ЛКПЧ, 2007 — стр. 101-103(Russian)
  24. ^ Peter Van Elsuwege, From Soviet republics to EU member states: a legal and political assessment of the Baltic states' accession to the EU, BRILL, 2008, p75
  25. ^ Малнач А. 100 тысяч «обманщиков», или Катехизис латвийского гражданина «Час», 15.08.2005.(Russian)
  26. ^ Acquisition of the citizenship of Latvia through naturalization
  27. ^ IHF Report 2007, Human Rights in the OSCE Region: "...Petropavlovskis, a minority education reform activist, had been denied citizenship in 2004 by the Cabinet of Ministers on grounds of disloyalty to the Latvian state despite having fulfilled all naturalization requirements."
  28. ^ Letter of the minister of interior No. 1-28/2547, August 12, 2010, Add. 2 and Add. 3(Latvian)
  29. ^ Reģionālo aspektu nozīme pilsonības jautājumu risināšanā — Rīga: LR Naturalizācijas pārvalde, 2003. — 66. lpp.(Latvian)
  30. ^ Latvijas Tautas frontes 2. kongress. Programma, statūti, rezolūcijas — R., LTF izdevniecība, 1990 — 7. lpp. (Latvian)
  31. ^ Uzskati par starpetniskajām attiecībām Latvijā — Rīga: SKDS, 2005. — 12.—13. lpp.(Latvian)
  32. ^ Project of HC program, section "Non-citizens of Latvia":RussianArchived December 18, 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Latvian Archived December 18, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ ForHRUL program, see Section 7.3.: Russian, Latvian
  34. ^ TB/LNNK program for 2006 elections (Latvian)
  35. ^ LPP/LC vēlas referendumu par nepilsoņu tiesībām vēlēt pašvaldības, 23.04.2007. (Latvian)
  36. ^ Voting in Latvian Parliament on 26.04.2007.(Latvian)
  37. ^ Press statement of the OSCE mission, 8 October, 2006
  38. ^ PACE Resolution 1527 (2006) Rights of national minorities in Latvia — Section 11
  39. ^ Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Latvia (2003) — Section 12
  40. ^ OSCE PA Resolution on National Minorities (2004) — Section 16 (see p. 24)
  41. ^ Report by CoE Commissioner for Human Rights on his Visit to Latvia (2004) — Section 132.5.
  42. ^ Report by CoE Commissioner for Human Rights on his Visit to Latvia (2004) — Section 132.4.
  43. ^ ECRI Third Report on Latvia CRI(2008)2 — Section 117
  44. ^ PACE resolution No. 1527 (2006) — Sections 17.8., 17.10
  45. ^ PACE resolution No. 1527 (2006) — Section 17.11.2.
  46. ^ ECRI Third Report on Latvia CRI(2008)2 — Section 118
  47. ^ PACE resolution No. 1527 (2006) — Section 17.9.
  48. ^ Statement by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Head of the delegation of the Russian Federation Yuri V. Fedotov at the High level segment of the 60th session of the UN Commission on human rights, Geneva, 17 March 2004
  49. ^ List of main claims and recommendations of international organisations and NGO to Latvia as regards rights of national minorities (2004)
  50. ^ Non-citizens of Latvia may travel to Russia without visas(Russian)
  51. ^ For whom the way is open. Not all non-citizens of Latvia and Estonia are entitled to visit Russia without visa Rossiyskaya Gazeta(Russian)
  52. ^ Latvia is dissatisfied with cancelling visas for non-citizens Delfi(Russian)
  53. ^ Head of CoE — for visa-free regime for non-citizens Delfi(Russian)
  54. ^ The Russian Population in Latvia - Puppets of Moscow?, Tomas Malmlof, retrieved December 23, 2007
  55. ^ a b c Memorandum to the Latvian Government, Strasbourg, 16 May 2007, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

Further reading

  • Poleshchuk, Vadim, ed. Chance to Survive: Minority Rights in Estonia and Latvia. Aleksei Semjonov. Estonia, Moscow, Paris: Institute of Democracy and Cooperation, Foundation for Historical Outlook and Legal Information Centre for Human Rights. ISBN 978-9949-18-818-5. http://www.lichr.ee/main/assets/L-3-eng.pdf. Retrieved 18 April 2010. 
  • Morris, H. M. (2005). "The non-citizens of the EU". In Smith, D. J.. The Baltic States and their region: new Europe or old?. Amsterdam - New York: Rodopi. pp. 251–274. ISBN 90-420-1666-3. 

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