Naturalized Canadian citizens face beheading in Saudi Arabia

There is a story (Imprisoned Canadians face beheading in Saudi Arabia by Alan Freeman, May 15, 2007) in today's Globe and Mail about two naturalized Canadians who are in prison in Saudi Arabia accused of killing a Syrian boy in a schoolyard brawl. They could be beheaded for the crime.

Mohamed Kohail and his brother were stateless Palestinians born in Saudi Arabia. They were granted Canadian citizenship in 2005 but returned with their family to Saudi Arabia after their sister became ill. The brawl in which the Syrian boy, Munzer Haraki, was killed took place January 13 at Edugates International School near Jeddah. Kohail signed a confession, but he says he was tricked into signing after having been abused by Saudi police.

In recent years, there have been several news stories about immigrants who, after having been granted Canadian citizenship, ran into trouble in their country of origin. The Canadian government is then expected to bail them out.

Last year for example, when Israel shelled Lebanon Canada, rescued thousands of dual citizens who had returned to live in that country.

Then there's the case of Huseyin Celil, the Uyghur activist who has been sentenced to life in China after being convicted of taking part in terrorist activities. Peter MacKay has been lobbying China on his behalf.

There's also Mohammed Jabarah an Arab from Kuwait who went to school in St. Catharines. His family sent him to Kuwait every summer where he fell under the influence of a radical Muslim cleric. He joined al-Qaeda and was eventually arrested for his part in a plot by Jemaah Islamiyah to attack American and Israeli targets in Singapore. He is now in prison in the US. He has supporters in Canada who want Ottawa to help him.

Omar Khadr is another 'Canadian' Ottawa is expected to help. Just the other day a Canadian citizen was arrested in Afghanistan on suspicion of being a terrorist.

Whenever I read stories like this I ask myself whether these people should have been granted Canadian citizenship in the first place. Did they ever have any real commitment to Canada or did they just see a Canadian passport as a convenient piece of paper?

Yann Martel, author of the Life of Pi, once called Canada the "greatest hotel on Earth." He meant it as a compliment, but to me it sounds disrespectful. A country should be more than the place you happen to live and citizenship should be more than a get out of foreign jail free card.

You can't force naturalized citizens, or native-born ones for that matter, to be loyal to Canada, but allowing people to become citizens after only three years cheapens our citizenship. So does letting in 250,000+ immigrants a year. Ottawa is giving Canada away.

One of the differences between immigration today and in the past is that we live in a more mobile world. If you moved to Canada from Europe a hundred years ago, going back to the old country was more difficult. Some people did go back, but it was harder to do. There were people who came to Canada simply to earn money, but even many of those ended up staying. Now the old country is a plane-trip away.

Also, communications technology like the Internet makes it easier to stay in touch with the country you came from. You can come to Canada, acquire Canadian citizenship and through the Internet remain engaged in politics back home. New technology allows for the creation of transnational networks that undermine the nation-state.