‘56,000 special IDs issued to children of Jordanian women married to foreigners’

AMMAN — A total of 56,000 special IDs have been issued to children of Jordanian women married to foreigners, Interior Minister Salameh Hammad said on Wednesday.

Hammad's remarks came during a meeting that brought together Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and several ministers with members of the Lower House-based "Mubadara" group to follow up on the issue of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Mubadara's coordinator, MP Mustafa Hamarneh, said the meeting was primarily meant to look into removing obstacles hindering transactions for the children of Jordanian women at public agencies.

Officials said those facing difficulties in issuing a driving licence should report to the concerned administrative governor to resolve the issue, Petra reported.

Attendees also agreed that the issue of applications by children of Jordanian women married to foreigners to public universities' parallel programmes will be referred to the Higher Education Council, which in turn, will refer them to the trustee boards of universities.

Members of Mubadara voiced hope that children of Jordanian women will be treated the same as Jordanians applying to the parallel programme, which targets students with scores that do not qualify them to study specific subjects.

In recent remarks to The Jordan Times, Hamarneh said Mubadara has adopted the cause of citizenship rights for the children of Jordanian women married to foreigners, stressing that it will continue coordinating with the government to resolve the issue.

The government has set up a special unit at the Interior Ministry to follow up on the implementation of the special regulations related to the issue of Jordanian women married to foreigners.

Last year, the government announced that it was granting children of Jordanian women married to foreigners certain privileges.

The privileges are granted to provide that their mothers have been residing in Jordan for a minimum of five years, including 180 days every year, according to the Civil Status and Passports Department (CSPD)

Government officials have said in the past that there are 88,983 Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians and these families have 355,932 children registered with the CSPD.

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, Ensour said the Mubadara group is a "unique parliamentary phenomenon" and a translation of programme-based parliamentary work which "we should support", Petra reported.