Ayaan Hirsi Ali “did receive Dutch nationality”
An investigation has shown that Somali law permitted Ayaan Hirsi Ali to use the name ‘Ali’. Minister Rita Verdonk therefore concludes that Ms Hirsi Ali ‘did indeed correctly receive Dutch nationality’.
Background
On 11 May 2006, in the TV programme Zembla, the former MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali said that her real name and date of birth were different from those stated in her naturalisation decree.
Rita Verdonk (Minister for Immigration and Integration) consequently concluded that Ms Hirsi Ali was ‘deemed not to have received Dutch nationality’. Ms Verdonk wrote that she had acted as she would ‘in any other similar case’.
The name ‘Ali’
In a response, Ms Hirsi Ali’s spokesperson said: ‘Ms Hirsi Ali was entitled to use the name Ayaan Hirsi Ali because her father’s father had received the name Ali at birth and acquired the name Magan only later. She was mistaken in saying that she had lied about her identity.’ Ms Hirsi Ali was also permitted to use the name because it was also borne by two other forefathers.
Ms Verdonk has examined these arguments in the light of witness statements and an official report on the matter issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Dutch nationality
Ms Verdonk’s investigation shows there are now sufficient grounds to ‘legally accept that the naturalisation decree bears the correct name’. The incorrect year of birth is not, in Ms Verdonk’s view, ‘enough to cast doubt on the identity of the person concerned’.
‘After taking everything into consideration,’ says Ms Verdonk, ‘I have come to the conclusion that the 1997 naturalisation decree identifies Ms Ayaan Hirsi Ali adequately and that she did therefore receive Dutch nationality.’
Inquiry
Ms Verdonk has announced that she is starting an inquiry, at the request of the House of Representatives, into the legislation governing nationality and identity.
Sinds 2000, incorrect information concerning identity has led to a provisional or final decision in 74 cases that ‘no legal consequence can be attached to the granting of Dutch nationality’. In 52 cases, the persons concerned have lost their entitlement to Dutch nationality.
For the duration of the inquiry, Ms Verdonk is adjourning all cases involving incorrect personal details where no final decision has been taken on Dutch nationality.
Source: letter to the House of Representatives, Government Press release, 27 June 2006
