National

Public Weighs In On Citizenship Issue

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A bill is currently being drafted to address the ongoing citizenship issue. But, does there need to be a greater push to get it done?

Published

3 years ago

April 4, 2023

Jameelha Missick

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A bill is currently being drafted to address the ongoing citizenship issue. But, does there need to be a greater push to get it done?

Last week former Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson suggested that passing the citizenship bill was a no brainer, saying there needs to be a greater push not just by the government, but from the electorate.

Amid the ongoing debate over the right to pass on citizenship, some residents say they agree.

Currently-married Bahamian women are not able to pass citizenship on to their children, if the father is a non-Bahamian.

But, Maynard-Gibson says the groundwork has already been laid.

Back in 2016 there was a constitutional referendum that if passed, Bahamian women would have been able to pass on the citizenship to their children. However, the electorate overwhelmingly rejected the idea with the majority of them voting ‘no’.