BY CAROL-ANNE SULEGA
THE new Citizenship Bill 2017 will make efforts by Solomon Islanders who were forced out of the country during the black birding days as laborers easier to apply for Solomon Islands citizenship.
Hon Dr Culwick Togamana, a member of the Bills and Legislation Committee (BLC) queried the sponsoring ministry of the Bill, the Ministry of Home Affairs, on what the proposed Bill could do for Solomon Islander labourers from the black birding days.
He queried how these Solomon Islanders would be able to return or acquire dual citizenship if the new Bill were to come into force as an Act.
The Bill allows Solomon Islanders by birth who have lost their citizenship and reconnect with their country of origin.
It specifically states to facilitate the reintegration and return of Solomon Islanders by ancestry and their children who have lost their citizenship through marriage, naturalisation or displacement due to forced labour.
