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Bosnian Canadians Will Not Lose Bosnian Citizenship

Bosnian Canadians Will Not Lose Bosnian Citizenship

 

Last Friday, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to remove the controversial Articles 17 and 39 from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution.  The aforementioned articles in the Law and Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina state that "Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina is lost by the voluntary acquisition of another citizenship, unless a bilateral agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and that State, approved by the Parliamentary Assembly in accordance with Article IV (4)(d) of the Constitution provides otherwise." These bilateral agreements, however, provide no remedy for Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens in Canada because Canada has formally indicated that it does not intend to enter into such agreements. Bosnian Canadians  believe that Article 17 and its accompanying provisions have endangered the right of Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens who hold citizenship of another State to retain their Bosnia and Herzegovina citizenship.

 

The war of aggression has displaced approximately 2 million people of whom more than half are living outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Canada is home to approximately 30,000 Bosnians Canadians who resettled as the result of war. Bosnian Canadians are pleased that the Articles were deemed unconstitutional and that the Parliamentary Assembly in Bosnia and Herzegovina was ordered to remove the controversial Articles within the next six months.

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