DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced plans to grant some foreigners citizenship to this oil-rich country, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as part of efforts to stimulate its economy in the midst of the pandemic. of the coronavirus.
The United Arab Emirates granted citizenship to Palestinians and others who helped to form the government of the country after its formation in 1971. Others also received it over time.
The announcement made on Saturday by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a Dubai ruler who also serves as prime minister and vice president of the autocratic nation, said the offer could apply to artists, authors, doctors, engineers and scientists as well like their families.
Sheikh Mohammed wrote on Twitter that hereditary rulers in the country’s seven emirates and at the federal level would nominate them for citizenship. Those who receive citizenship will also be able to maintain their initial citizenship.
It was not immediately clear whether citizenship would also grant rights to social programs from the cradle to the grave of the United Arab Emirates for its citizens.
The United Arab Emirates has more than 9 million inhabitants, only a tenth of them citizens. In November, the United Arab Emirates announced plans to revise the country’s Islamic personal laws, allowing unmarried couples to cohabit, loosening alcohol restrictions and criminalizing so-called “honor killings”.