Couple furious as baby becomes Turkish

Wednesday 01 April 2009

A couple from Amsterdam are furious that their new baby Friso has been given Turkish nationality by city civil servants against their express wishes, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.

The child is entitled to be Turkish because his maternal grandfather is Turkish. But his parents are strongly opposed because they do not want their son to have to undergo military service with the Turkish army.

Earlier this week, the Telegraaf reported that civil servants in Amsterdam are registering children born in the Netherlands as Moroccan with the Moroccan consul, without being asked to do so by their parents.

MPs are to debate the issue with ministers on Thursday.

Dual nationality is a thorny issue in the Netherlands. Many MPs and some ministers feel allowing people to hold two passports stops the integration of immigrants.

One of the conditions for becoming Dutch is that you give up your original nationality, if possible by law.

© DutchNews.nl

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